Home: An Unexpected Journey
by thisismyfiction
Summary: Elves, wizards, goblins and hot dwarves... Not exactly what Katy and Sarah had in mind when they were planning their big adventure, but an encounter with a strange old woman sends them into a completely different world, and who knows, maybe just the adventure that they wanted all along...
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone.

I started posting this story a few months ago (slightly different title, completely different username) but I got a bit bored of it. Since then, I've seen the second movie and that spurred me on to try and finish this once and for all. I've now written it up to when the second movie finishes, and should have it complete in the next few weeks. I've followed the first movie, but then it uses the rough structure of the book, with some changes, depending on where it needed to go for the purposes of my original characters. I got some great reviews when I first published it (thank you!) and hopefully there is some interest out there for it now. Enjoy!

Oh, and it goes without saying, I own nothing but my two original characters, Katy and Sarah.

xx


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting in the hospital bed, the young woman stared out of the window. _How long was I gone for?_ She thought. What was it her parents had said, she had been unconscious for just over 24 hours? Was that even possible? It had been days, weeks, since that day that changed everything. Things she never thought were possible, or could have ever existed. Well, at least not outside a book. _A children's book_, she remembered, shaking her head. But they really did happen to her, didn't they. I mean this wasn't some kind of elaborate game someone was playing with her. No, it was all too real. She glanced down at her arm and traced the scratches and bruising, wishing that it would never fade. It was proof, wasn't it, she knew how she got these cuts and bruises. She would never get that kind of terror out of her head. She couldn't possibly have made it all up, dreamt it. Then there was the stronger pain, the deeper, gut wrenching pain of losing someone you cared about, even _loved_. She closed her eyes and smiled, remembering when she first met him. She was so lost, so completely out of her depth, and yet he seemed to make it easier, made it bearable. The more she thought about him, the more it hurt, until once again she was quietly sobbing. Her parents, the nurses and the doctors didn't know why she was crying, they would try to soothe her by telling her that she was ok, she would be going home soon. But the truth was she didn't even know where she wanted to go. The only place she could stop feeling the pain was when she slept, and dreamt about faraway lands, strange creatures, and _him_. A soft smile fell upon her lips as she drifted off to sleep, taking her back to where it all began…


	3. Chapter 3

With her last ounce of strength, Katy lifted her suitcase off her bed and onto the floor. _Well that's everything_, she thought, as her eyes swept her room for anything she may have missed. Her mum had insisted she made a list of things to pack, but she had got half way through the list before she realised her time would be better spent actually packing than thinking what to pack. It wasn't like she wouldn't be able to buy anything she may have forgotten to bring with her - it wasn't as if she was going anywhere that wouldn't have shops!

Her gaze landed on a map of the world, neatly folded up next to a pile of guidebooks on South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. She couldn't quite believe that the departure date had finally arrived. Her best friend Sarah had been the one to first come up with the idea: 6 months travelling the world after they had both graduated from university, the perfect trip before they both started their grown-up, full time jobs as teachers. It had been the ideal push when the long days of classes and endless hours of studying started to get to them. Rough maps and routes had been scribbled on the back of envelopes, before they purchased proper maps and guidebooks, and that's when the plans really started to take shape. Fly to New Zealand then travel back towards London via Australia, South Asia and Africa. There were times when it felt like they were never going to actually leave, that it was all just thoughts and ideas, but tomorrow, finally, herself and Sarah would be getting on that plane.

Katy's thoughts were interrupted by the raised voices of her parents downstairs. When she had first told them about her travelling plans, they had been slightly bemused by it, probably not really believing it would actually happen. She wasn't exactly good at saving money, and they were used to her and Sarah coming up with crazy ideas. But as the trip became more and more real, Katy could see that her mum and dad were starting to get a little nervous. She had never really been away from home for any length of time, having studied at a university about an hour from her parents' home. Sarah's parents had reacted in a similar way, and both girls had been given lectures on common sense and safety first at every opportunity. _I mean really, _they had both thought, _what do they think we're going to get ourselves mixed up in?_

As Katy made her way downstairs, the doorbell rang, and her mum scurried off to answer it.

'I swear, if that's another double glazing salesman then I'm gonna tell him to stick his windows where the sun don't… oh hi Sarah, come on in!'

'KATY! SARAH'S HERE!' she bellowed, before realising Katy was already halfway down stairs.

'Oh, there you are, honey. Now remember, your dad and I want to spend at least some of this evening with you before the pair of you go gallivanting off to the other side of the world, so don't stay out too late, ok?' Her mum had that worried look on her face again.

Katy gave her a reassuring smile.

'Please don't worry, we're only going for a quick drink to toast our adventure, I'll be gone no more than an hour'.

Sarah grinned from behind her mum.

'I promise I'll wait until we've left the country before leading Katy astray'

Katy and her mum both gave Sarah a sharp look, but before either of them could say anything, Katy's dad shouted from the living room.

'For goodness sake, Margaret, let the girls go out for a bit, you're going to have to get used to not seeing them for a while!'

'Thanks dad!' Katy said as she gave her mum a quick peck on the cheek. 'I promise, I'll be back in an hour'.

As she and Sarah went out the front door, she could hear her mum berating her dad for letting her out of the house so easily.

'You're parents sound exactly like my parents. My mum almost had a heart attack when I went up to the loft earlier and she couldn't find me for twenty minutes.' Sarah said, as the two girls set off down the street.

'I know, the way they're acting, you would like that we didn't know where we were going. I'm sure they'll be fine once we've arrived in New Zealand'.

Sarah stopped suddenly, grabbing Katy's arm. 'What is it, Sarah?'

'We're actually doing it,' Sarah sighed. 'Can you believe it? Tomorrow we'll be out of here and on an adventure!'

Katy grinned back at her friend. 'I know, I'm so excited! Just think of all the places we're going to, the people we'll meet.'

'You mean the hot guys we'll meet' said Sarah.

Rolling her eyes, Katy started dragging her friend along the road to their local pub. 'I knew it wouldn't be long until you started on that again'

Sarah looked indignant. 'What? We're both single, what's the harm in some innocent flirting? And who knows, we might meet the men of our dreams!'

'Yeah,' Katy replied, 'On the other side of the world!'

'Ok, now you're starting to sound like your mum', Sarah said as they entered the pub.

One bottle of wine later the girls left the pub, having loudly toasted the start of their adventure. Katy was pretty sure that everyone in the pub was sick of hearing about it. As they turned to walk back to their homes, Sarah stopped suddenly, noticing some brightly coloured lights a short distance away.

'Were those there when we came here?' she said.

Katy thought for a minute.

'I don't think so, I'm pretty sure we would have noticed them'.

Sarah once again grabbed Katy's arm, dragging her in the direction of the lights.

'Come on, let's see what it is, call it the start of our adventure'

'What', Katy scoffed, 'an adventure around here?'

As they got closer to the lights, they realised they were walking towards the derelict football field. When Katy and Sarah were younger, it used to be full of kids running around and playing football, but recently it was more of a hangout for local gangs of teenagers. Right now, though, it was unrecognisable. The two girls stood by the gate, looking in at a brightly lit, laughter-filled fun fair.

'Where on earth did this come from?' Sarah exclaimed.

'Beats me,' Katy shrugged.

The two girls looked at each other for a couple of seconds, before grinning at each other and running through the gate. _Sorry mum, _Katy thought, _I'm going to be gone slightly more than an hour_.

The fun fair was full of children and adults, but no one either Sarah or Katy recognised. They wandered aimlessly for a bit, before Sarah spotted a sign for a fortune-teller.

'Fancy finding out if we're going to meet Mr Right on our travels, Katy?' she smirked, dragging her friend over to small tent.

'Really? Since when did you want to have your fortune read?' said Katy.

Sarah shrugged. 'Just a bit of harmless fun. What's the worst that could happen?'

Before letting Katy answer, Sarah stepped into the tent, followed somewhat reluctantly by her friend. The place was full of lit candles, and in the centre of the tent was a low table, behind which an old woman sat. She looked up quickly as the girls entered, and smiled softly at them.

'Come sit down, dears, and I shall tell you of your future'.

Katy leaned into Sarah. 'Are we actually going to pay her money for this?' she whispered.

Without answering, Sarah pulled out some coins from her bag and marched over to the table.

'Guess that's a yes then', Katy muttered, joining her friend.

Sarah handed over the money, and old woman began shuffling cards. There was some strange muffled music coming from the back of the tent, and it only added to the unsettling feeling Katy was having.

The old woman started turning over some cards.

'I see distance. And travel. And many new experiences.'

_Ok, give the old woman some credit, that's not a bad guess_, thought Katy.

'Yes! We're both going travelling tomorrow!' Sarah exclaimed, 'do you see any potential romance on those cards?'

The woman's eyes darkened, and she looked up at Sarah sharply, before turning over some more cards.

'Romance? Perhaps. But also danger.' _Please don't tell our parents, _both girls immediately thought.

The woman continued. 'You will encounter many different people and strange creatures. Not like yourselves. Open your minds, to wizards and goblins.'

Both Sarah and Katy looked blankly at the old woman, the same thoughts running through their heads.

_Wizards?_

_Goblins?_

_What is this, Harry Potter?_

Sarah decided to voice these thoughts, somewhat angrily.

'Are you serious? Wizards and goblins? Let me give you some advice, stick to the real world and leave the fantasy stuff to JK Rowling. And can I get a refund?'

Sarah stood up and reached her hand out to the woman.

'No refunds. You asked for your future, and I gave it to you,' said the old woman, as she gathered up the cards.

'Stupid old bat….' Katy heard Sarah mutter as she marched out of the tent. Suddenly Katy realised she was still sitting down.

'Sorry about my friend, I guess she was looking more for Prince Charming than Dumbledore' Katy said apologetically, as she quickly left the tent.

Stepping outside, she couldn't see where Sarah was. Katy started to look for her phone in her bag to call her friend, when she spotted her, chatting away to a handsome guy at a food stand. Rolling her eyes, Katy went over to them.

'Katy, there you are, this is David, and he was just telling me how lovely these caramel apples are!' Sarah beamed at her.

'I'm sure he was,' Katy replied, smiling at them both.

Sarah kept talking without taking her eyes off David.

'Do you know anything about the weird old woman in that tent over there? She charged me five quid to tell us that we'd be meeting some wizard on our travels! I know it's not actually possible to read someone's fortune, but you would think she would want to keep it a little bit more realistic?!'

As soon as the words left Sarah's mouth, the smile left David's face.

'Mina knows what she is talking about. She never fails to see exactly what lies ahead' he said darkly to both girls.

Before Sarah could reply, Katy quickly stepped in.

'You know, we really don't mind what she said. No harm done. We'll just take the apples and leave you alone', she said, handing over some money.

Katy pulled Sarah away, who still looked like she had something to say to David.

'Let's go home, we've got an early start tomorrow, ' Katy told her friend, as she started eating her caramel apple.

Sarah took one last look at the fortune-teller's tent as they headed for the gate, and saw the old woman staring at them, muttering under her breath.

'You're right, this place gives me the creeps', Sarah said, quickly marching ahead of Katy, 'Plus, your mum is probably going to have a go at me for keeping you out so late, she probably has some last minute safety tips to tell you'.

Sarah laughed, turning back to Katy. 'Katy, are you ok?" noticing that her friend had turned white as a sheet.

Katy shook her head. 'I don't feel so good'.

Sarah groaned. 'Oh god, we don't need you to get sick before our flight tomorrow. Not the best start to our adventure. Come on, let's get you home to bed.'

She stepped towards Katy, taking the first bite out of her apple. Katy looked at her, eyes widened. 'No, Sarah, I think it was the apple!'

'What?!'

But before either girl could say or do anything more, the world around them started to spin, and they both landed heavily on the ground, just outside the entrance to the fun fair. The old woman, having watched the girls faint, slowly made her way back into the tent, with a small smile on her face. _Let's give them an adventure they will never forget…._


	4. Chapter 4

As Katy woke from her deep sleep, she stretched into a big yawn and slowly opened her eyes. _That was such a weird dream, _she thought. Eyes fully opened, two more thoughts popped into her head at the same time. One, that today was the start of her six-month adventure with Sarah, and two, why the hell had she fallen asleep in some field? She sat up slowly, and took in her surroundings. Yes, she was quite right the first time – she appeared to have fallen asleep in a field. _Crap, we're going to miss our flight, aren't we?_

She heard some groaning beside her, and looked down to see Sarah going though the exact same thought process as she had done.

'You know you have those nights out, when you can't remember half the night, and you wake up wondering how the hell you managed to make it home in one piece?' Sarah grumbled.

'Yeah...'

Her friend sat up too. 'This is so much worse than that'.

'Totally'.

Katy stood up and looked around her. 'Where the hell are we?'

Sarah suddenly started pointing and laughing at the other girl.

'What is it?!'

Struggling to catch her breath, Sarah continued to laugh. 'Haha, look at your clothes! They're hanging off you! Have you been on some new diet I don't know of yet?'

Looking down in horror, Katy saw that Sarah was right. She was wearing jeans, t-shirt and hoodie, and she was practically drowning in them. Her ballet pumps also suddenly seemed much too big. Katy then looked at her friend's clothes, and said with a touch of glee, 'Looks like I'm not the only one that's been on a diet!'

Sarah jumped out, and promptly fell out of her wedges. Her jeans, top and blazer were also far too big for her. 'What the hell?!'

The two girls stood there looking at each other for a minute or two, not quite sure what to do. It was Katy who spoke first.

'Ok, something obviously happened to us last night. What do we remember doing?'

Sarah thought for a moment before answering.

'Your mum was complaining, nothing new there, then we went for a drink…Maybe our drinks were spiked?'

'That doesn't exactly explain where we are though'

Sarah thought some more.

'There was that creepy old woman at the fun fair?'

Katy turned to her. 'What, you think she followed us? And took us somewhere?'

Sarah shrugged. 'Beats me. She was odd, though. And that guy with the caramel apples was also a bit strange. But cute.'

Realisation suddenly hit Katy. 'Wait, I felt sick after eating the apple. And then you ate the apple too.'

Sarah looked sceptical. 'Poisoned apples? Isn't that a bit Disney?'

'You're the one who was so interested in finding out about your Prince Charming!' Katy retorted.

'Well we aren't going to find him sitting in a field…'

They were silent again, until Sarah suddenly started walking, with Katy quickly following.

'Where are you going?' Katy asked.

'Like I said, we aren't going to find our Prince Charming, or a way back home, sitting around. I say we find the nearest house, ask to use their phone, and then call anyone apart from our parents.'

'How do you know what direction to go in? I can't see any houses around here.' Panic was starting to creep into Katy's voice.

'I don't know, I'm just walking. I'm sure we'll come across someone or something soon. Don't worry!' said Sarah.

Katy couldn't quite believe her friend was being so calm. 'Aren't you worried?!'

Sarah turned to her friend, and could see the panic in her eyes. She stopped and gave her a hug.

'Look, I'm scared as hell as well, but we need to keep our heads and work out how to get home so we can get on a plane and have our adventure. Neither of us wanted it to start out like this. But if we keep calm, then we'll find a solution.'

Sarah continued walking, but kept hold of Katy's hand. Sarah could be scatterbrained, impulsive and slightly obnoxious, but she was also great in an emergency, and Katy was grateful that she was with her. The two friends quickly moved across the field, which slowly started to rise upwards to a small wooded area, and kept an eye out for any signs of life.

At the top of the hill, they stopped where the trees began, and took stock of their surroundings. Both of them had assumed that they would see houses and roads beyond the trees in the valley below, or at least some dirt tracks and farm cottages. Instead, there appeared to be doors and windows built into the ground itself.

'What the hell…' Katy muttered, gripping Sarah's hand tighter.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps, and without saying anything both girls dived behind the nearest tree, not failing to notice just how big the tree was. _My god, we really have seem to have shrunk…_, they both thought.

The footsteps grew closer, and before Katy could stop her, Sarah jumped out from behind the tree.

'Excuse me! Could you help us? We're a little lost' she said politely.

Before the stranger had a chance to reply, Sarah turned to Katy, who was still behind the tree.

'It's fine, Katy, it's just an old man in a funny hat!' she whispered, a bit too loudly.

Katy crept out from behind the tree, and sure enough, there was an old man in a funny hat. She gave him a nervous smile and left the talking to Sarah.

'Like I said, we've somehow found ourselves in this field, and don't really know how to get home? If you could let us know where we are exactly, that would be super!'

The old man smiled at the two girls.

'Well, my dears, you are in the Shire, and that over there is Hobbiton, where I am headed.'

_The Shire?_

_Hobbiton?_

'Er, what county is that in? I've never heard of either of those places.' Sarah replied, the calmness slowly leaving her voice.

The old man looked bemused. 'County? I'm not sure what you mean. This is Middle Earth.'

Sarah looked at Katy, visibly panicked.

'Middle what now?'

'My dear, where is it you're trying to get to?' the old man asked kindly.

'Erm, Kent?' Sarah practically squeaked.

The old man thought for a moment. 'Hmm, I've never heard of such a place. Why don't you come with me, I'm calling on a friend and together we might be able to figure out where you need to go'.

As soon as he said that, Katy started shaking her head at Sarah, not caring if she offended the old man. 'He might be in league with the old woman!' she whispered frantically at Sarah.

Her friend rolled her eyes, and turned back to the old man.

'That would be great if you could. I'm Sarah, and this is my friend Katy. She's a little nervous, don't mind her,' she said, sticking her hand out.

The man shook it, and turned to Katy.

'Don't be alarmed, my dear. My name is Gandalf the Grey, and I mean you no harm.'

_Gandalf the Grey? Something sounded familiar about that name, _Katy thought as she slowly shook his hand and tried to smile politely.

The three of them continued to walk through the woods, and then down into the valley towards the strange houses built into the sides of hills.

Sarah tried to make small talk.

'So Gandalf, what do you do? Katy and I are newly trained teachers!'

Gandalf seemed pleased with what Sarah had said. 'Well, I am a wizard of Middle Earth, and I guess I do my own fair share of teaching as well!'

Both girls stopped walking as soon as he said that.

_Wizard?_

_He's a WIZARD?_

'Did you just say you're a wizard?' Katy said, at exactly the same time as Sarah muttered 'Dumbledore…' under her breadth.

Gandalf nodded.

Katy turned to Sarah, glaring at her. 'What?!' Sarah exclaimed.

'The old woman. Do you remember what she said? That we'll meet a wizard on our travels?!' Katy hissed.

Sarah smiled brightly. 'Oh yeah! God, I didn't give that old bat enough credit, did I? Well worth that fiver!'

Katy just glared at her.

'Is there a problem, my dears?' Gandalf asked.

Sarah gave Katy's hand a reassuring squeeze. 'Nope! Lead on, Gandalf!'

The wizard and the two girls continued walking, and Sarah continued her questioning.

'So, who's this friend you're going to meet?'

'He lives in Hobbiton, and he is called Bilbo Baggins. I'm actually going to inquire if he is interested in a bit of an adventure.'

At the mention of the name Bilbo, Katy squeezed Sarah's hand, but Sarah ignored it and pressed on.

'An adventure? Katy and I are off on our own adventure, we're going travelling around the world for six months! Well, as soon as we get home and try and reschedule the flights, you know what airlines can be like…' Sarah said.

'Hmm, I'm not sure if I do...' Gandalf replied.

The three of them continued on in silence for a bit, until they entered Hobbiton. Sarah and Katy looked at the place in amazement – they had never seen a place like it before. Suddenly, they saw people, lots of people.

'Are these all wizards like you, Gandalf?' Sarah asked.

The wizard chucked. 'No, my dear, these are Hobbits, an interesting race, but certainly not wizards.'

'Huh. They're quite short, aren't they? I mean, compared to you.'

Gandalf looked down at the two girls, and Sarah felt a bit silly.

'I guess we're quite short as well, aren't we!' she laughed.

Katy broke her silence. 'Gandalf, do you know why we're so short? I mean, we're not usually this size in…Kent.'

Gandalf looked puzzled. 'Yes, you are small, aren't you? You look like the race of man, but somewhere between the size of a hobbit and a dwarf! Very strange!'

'Dwarf?!' Katy shrieked.

'Yes, my dear, dwarf! And you may meet some in the future. Very proud race, but maybe don't go on about their size too much.'

Gandalf stopped suddenly, and the girls noticed that they were outside one of houses built into the earth. Up close, it looked quite cute, and on a bench in front of one of windows sat someone, who the girls correctly guessed, to be Bilbo Baggins.

'Good morning!' Bilbo said to the three figures.

Gandalf started asking Bilbo about exactly what he meant by good morning, and Sarah took the opportunity to move closer to Katy.

'How you doing there?' she asked her friend.

'How am I doing? Still a bit freaked out by all this, and even more freaked out that you seem to be coping with it all extremely well and making friends with a wizard!' Katy hissed back.

'Look, Gandalf seems nice, and he said he is going to try and help us, so we might as well be polite.'

Sarah was right. Katy took a deep breadth, and tried to keep calm.

'Ok, that makes sense. But this is all a little odd, isn't it? Look at the houses! And I think I've heard of Bilbo and Gandalf before, haven't you?'

Sarah thought for a moment, then shook her head. She was about to respond, then heard Gandalf mention herself and Katy to Bilbo.

Bilbo turned to the two girls and smiled politely. They waved back, awkwardly, trying to ignore the fact that he had big hairy feet.

'Right, well I have some business to attend to, but you may stay with Bilbo for now, and I will return later when I found out more about why you're here,' Gandalf said.

Bilbo looked a tiny bit horrified at having to share his home with two strange girls, but continued to smile politely.

'You're leaving us?' Katy said, suddenly not wanting to let Gandalf out of her sight.

'Just for a little while, but don't fret, I won't forget about you', Gandalf reassured her. 'In the meantime, I'm sure Bilbo will make you feel at home.'

With those words, Gandalf gave Bilbo a little nod.

'Oh! Yes, erm, yes! Please do come in,' the hobbit said to the girls, and he ushered them into his home. Gandalf smiled to himself as he drew a symbol with his staff on Bilbo's door, and walked off down the path.


	5. Chapter 5

It was now evening in Hobbiton, and Katy and Sarah had spent a fairly pleasant day with Bilbo Baggins. Well, it was probably a bit more pleasant for the girls than for Bilbo, as Sarah had taken to touching a lot of stuff in Bilbo's house (which they learnt was called a hobbit hole), much to Bilbo's increasing annoyance. Katy had concentrated on keeping as calm as she could, and she kept telling herself that Gandalf would return with a solution to how she and Sarah were to return home and get off on their own adventure.

As the sky grew darker, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah sat down to a dinner of fish. The girls were very grateful that Bilbo cooked them dinner, and it smelt and looked delicious. The hobbit had given himself a considerably larger portion than the girls, but neither of them found it in themselves to ask for more. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Katy's face immediately lit up.

'Gandalf!'

She grinned at Sarah, who had a mouth full of fish.

'I'm sure he'll have found a way for us to get home, don't you think?'

Sarah nodded. 'Yup, he is a wizard after all!'

They heard voices as Bilbo answered the door, and then were shocked to discover that instead of Gandalf, a tall, (well, taller than they were) bald chap came into the room. Noticing the girls, he bowed.

'Dwalin, at your service'

Sarah's mouth fell open, still full of fish, and for once in her life, she was speechless.

'What the…' Katy muttered.

Suddenly, Sarah found the right words, and after swallowing the fish, stood up to greet the stranger.

'Hi there, Dwalin, was it? Are you a hobbit or a wizard?' she inquired.

'I'm a dwarf!' Dwalin grunted at her, 'What are you?!'

'Erm, long story, but we're women who seem to have shrunk a bit, not really sure why yet.' Sarah replied, trying to keep the smile on her face as she watched Dwalin eat Bilbo's dinner.

She then turned to Bilbo. 'Were you expecting company? I mean, other than Gandalf?'

Bilbo looked a little flustered. 'No I certainly wasn't!'

Katy wasn't sure if she should eat her dinner or offer it to Bilbo. Before she could decide, though, Dwalin went to lift her plate.

'Are you going to eat that, or can I have it?' he barked at her.

Katy just mumbled at him, and watched him eat her fish.

She was thinking of something to ask the dwarf, when there was another knock on the door, causing even more panic on Bilbo's face. As he went off to answer it, Katy and Sarah rushed into the living room. Dwalin was a bit intimidating.

'Sarah, who is hell is that? First wizards, hobbits, and now dwarves?! Where the hell are we?'

Sarah peered into the dining room to see another dwarf join Dwalin. This one was older with white hair.

'Don't worry, Katy, I'm sure Gandalf will explain everything'.

'Ok, but I've been thinking. All these names, Bilbo, Gandalf. I'm sure I've heard them somewhere before.'

Before Sarah had the chance to reply, there was a third knock on the door. Both girls peered around the corner to see Bilbo open the door to two young dwarves.

'Fili'

'And Kili'

'At your service'

As Bilbo once again made upset noises, Katy turned to Sarah.

'More of them! How many more can there be?'

Sarah smirked. 'As many as possible, if they all look like that', nodding her head at the dark haired dwarf who was now scraping his boots on Bilbo's furniture.

'Really? A dwarf?'

'Not just any dwarf, a hot dwarf. Look, his mate isn't bad either, one for you!' Sarah grinned.

Katy was about to reply when she properly looked at the other dwarf.

'Hmm, you're right, not bad at all, actually...'

Sarah started laughing, and both girls followed the dwarves back through to the dining room, where they were moving tables and collecting as much food as possible. _Poor Bilbo, _thought Sarah.

Before they could introduce themselves to the new arrivals, there was an even louder knock on the door. Bilbo wasn't impressed, and even less so when eight more dwarves tumbled into his hall, and a familiar face stood behind them.

'Gandalf!' Katy and Sarah squeaked at the same time.

The wizard smiled at the girls. 'Good evening, my dears. And I see that you've met some of the dwarves!'

'Erm, we've not really been properly introduced, to be honest. They all seem a bit more focused on getting food than meeting us', Sarah explained.

Gandalf smiled as the dwarves around him noisily made their way into the kitchen. 'Yes, I think we best leave the introductions until a bit later.'

The wizard went off into the hobbit hole, muttering under his breath and counting dwarves. By the looks of things he was missing one.

Sarah turned to Katy. 'Fancy something to eat? You never did get your fish. And by the looks of it there won't be much left for much longer.'

Katy sighed. 'Yeah, might as well as find something to eat! We might even be able to chat to those cute dwarves!'

Her friend grinned back at her. 'That's more like it! You've lightened up at bit!'

'Well, I feel better now that Gandalf is here,' Katy shrugged.

The two girls made their way among the dwarves, trying not to trip up on any furniture or be hit by any food.

By the looks of things, Bilbo was less inclined to just let the dwarves get on with feeding themselves and generally making themselves at home.

'Excuse me, that is a doily, not a dishcloth!'

Katy and Sarah smiled apologetically at him, before carefully reaching for some bread and cheese. 'Sorry about your kitchen, Bilbo…' Katy said quietly as she looked around for somewhere to sit.

Sarah, meanwhile, had spotted the two hot dwarves and was making a beeline for them.

'Hi, I'm Sarah, I'm a friend, well kind of, of Gandalf's, can I sit here?' she asked the dark haired dwarf, pointing to the empty seat next to him.

He smiled brightly at her, 'Of course! I'm Kil-'

'KATY! OVER HERE!' Sarah bellowed across the room, as she sat down next to Kili.

'Oh, excuse me, can I just- I'll just squeeze in here, thank you!' Katy said as she eventually made it across the kitchen. She went to sit next to Sarah who gave her a look before nodding to the space next to Fili.

'I think that seat's free' she said knowingly.

'So obvious…' Katy muttered, as she sat down.

She smiled at Fili. 'Hi, I'm Katy, nice to meet you.'

The two young dwarves appeared delighted at the attention.

'Fili'

'Kili'

'At your ser-'

'Oh, you've already done that!' Sarah said, giggling.

Kili blushed. 'Oh, er, right! Where did you say you were from?'

The girls shared a look.

'Erm… a small village in Kent? I don't think it's near here' Sarah said after a few seconds.

'Yeah, we've travelled far, still working out how…' Katy added.

The two dwarves only seemed slightly puzzled with that answer. 'Are you joining us on our quest?' Fili asked Katy.

'Quest? What kind of quest?' she replied.

'Like the crystal maze?!' Sarah offered. Katy rolled her eyes at her friend, but before either of the dwarves could tell them anymore, they were up on their feet with the rest of the gathering. Dishes were soon flying everywhere, and Bilbo looked like he was going to have a fit. He asked them to stop, which only resulted in them starting to sing about blunting the knives.

'I THINK THEY ARE JUST TIDYING UP!' Sarah shouted across to the hobbit, but he didn't seem satisfied until he had seen all the dishes stacked neatly and cleanly in the kitchen.

'That was impressive…' Katy whispered to Sarah, who nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, and the room fell silent.

'Is it another dwarf?' Sarah asked, more loudly than was needed. Katy shrugged.

Gandalf opened the door, and as another dwarf entered Bilbo's home the two girls tried to step back into the corner of the room. As far as first impressions went, this dwarf didn't seem as friendly as the others. There was a definite sense of power about him, and the other dwarves clearly respected him, as they remained silent.

Gandalf introduced Bilbo to Thorin Oakenshield, and the dwarf started asking the hobbit about weapons.

'This is all getting a bit serious, don't you think? I preferred it when they were throwing food around' Katy muttered to Sarah.

Suddenly both girls felt the eyes of the whole room on them.

'And who are these females?' Thorin asked Gandalf.

The wizard looked at the girls for a moment, as if deciding what to say. Sarah spoke up, before he had a chance to reply.

'I'm Sarah, this is Katy. We're, um, girls from somewhere far away, and we're a bit lost'

'And what are you doing with my company?' Thorin replied.

'Erm, somebody mentioned something about a quest, I think? Not really sure if it's our kind of thing, really. We're headed for New Zealand, if you must know'.

Sarah felt Katy's nails digging into her arm, which she took as a sign to stop talking. Fili, meanwhile, was doing his best to avoid Thorin's gaze. He probably shouldn't have tried to impress a girl by mentioning the quest…

Thorin merely grunted in response, and strode into the kitchen to find something to eat.

'That was painless…' Sarah muttered.

The girls followed the rest of the dwarves into the kitchen, and folded themselves into a corner out of the way while the dwarves gathered around the table, listening to Thorin. The girls didn't understand a lot of what was said, but could sense that now was not the time to ask questions. More talk about a quest, a lonely mountain, and then a dragon. At the mention of the dragon, Katy suddenly let out a little squeak and covered her mouth with her hand. Sarah immediately saw that something was wrong.

'What is it? You look like you're going to be sick!'

Katy removed her hand and took a deep breath. She was visibly shaking.

'Not here', she managed to mutter.

Sarah looked around at Gandalf and the dwarves. So far, it didn't look like any of them had noticed Katy's reaction, and taking her friend's hand, Sarah tiptoed out of the kitchen and into a small study across the hall. The wizard noted their exit out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing.

Katy gave herself a minute to compose her thoughts before she spoke.

'Ok, you know how earlier I said that the names Gandalf and Bilbo seemed a bit, well, familiar?'

Sarah nodded.

'Well, it just came to me in there, when they were talking about reclaiming their home, or whatever that was. I know where I've heard these names before.' Katy explained.

'And…' Sarah encouraged her to continue.

'From a book. Actually, a children's book.'

Sarah just stood staring at Katy, not quite sure what to say.

Katy continued talking. 'I mean, I haven't read it, or I don't think I have. It's weird, it's as if something in my head is trying to remember it, but at the same time there's something else that's trying to make me forget. If that's makes any sense?'

'Well, about as much sense as the rest of the day has made, to be fair.' Sarah replied. She paused for a moment before continuing.

'So let me get this straight. You think we're in a book. That somehow we got taken from our boring village into a book.'

Katy nodded. 'A children's book.'

'A children's book with wizards, hobbits, dragons and hot dwarves.'

'Yeah…' Katy looked a bit sick again.

'So it might not be as easy to get home as we thought, I mean we can't just keep walking and suddenly we'll be back in England. We're stuck here. Until what, the book finishes? What happens at the end?' Sarah voice grew louder and louder, and for once it was Katy trying to calm her friend down.

'I don't know, like I said I don't think I've read the book, but you need to keep quiet or those dwarves are going to find out they're fictional characters, which might not go down so well!' she hissed at Sarah.

'You're right. We need to stay calm. I mean, if we can get into a book, surely we can get out of it again, right?'

Katy nodded hopefully.

'God, I think I might faint,' Sarah whispered.

'Me too,'

Just as Katy had spoken, the girls heard a loud thump, and opened the door of the study to find Bilbo lying flat on the floor, out cold.

'Well at least we're taking it better than he is. Do you think he heard us?' Sarah asked.

Some of the dwarves started to drag Bilbo into a chair.

'I doubt it, maybe someone broke one of his grandmother's dishes or something.' Katy answered.

Gandalf came over to the girls. 'Everything alright, my dears? Don't mind Bilbo, he just needs to get his head round the idea of an adventure'

Sarah turned to the wizard. 'Were you able to find out how we can get home? It's just, we're getting a little bit concerned that we're, erm, further away than we originally thought.'

Gandalf frowned.

'Did anything out of the ordinary happen to you, right before you became lost?'

Katy looked at Sarah, and the two girls briefly explained what happened to them yesterday, right up until they ate the apples and fell asleep. Katy left out the bit about being in a children's book, as she was still having trouble remembering anything about it. Her head hurt when she thought about it too much.

'Hmm, a fortune-teller, you say? How odd. Leave it with me, I'll try and find some answers for you.' Gandalf said to the girls.

Sarah smiled at him.

'Thanks, Gandalf. Erm, so what do we now, then? Do you think Bilbo will let us stay here?'

The wizard turned to look at the hobbit, who was still out cold in a chair, but before he could speak they heard a voice from across the room.

'The females will come with us.'

Katy and Sarah turned to find Thorin staring at them.

'What? You want us to come on your quest? Are you nuts?' Sarah yelped.

'I heard what you said to Gandalf - tales of fortune-tellers and mysterious places? Who knows what you really know about this quest? I don't trust you, and I don't want you out of my sight. Not until we know more about where you've come from. Plus, it looks like the hobbit won't be much use,' Thorin replied.

Sarah smiled slightly at Katy.

'Well, it looks like we're getting our adventure after all'.


	6. Chapter 6

A new day broke over Hobbiton, and as Katy and Sarah slowly woke up, they half expected to find themselves back in their own beds, and for the previous day to have been an elaborate dream. Their hearts sank when they saw that they were still in Bilbo's house. The hobbit hadn't fully recovered from his shock, and it was Gandalf who found the girls a spare bedroom to sleep in. Not that either of them had slept much. After Thorin had told them that they were to accompany the dwarves on their quest, the girls realised that there was no way of changing the stubborn dwarf's mind. Sarah pointed out that since they had originally been planning an adventure in the first place, they might as well go along with this one until they found their way back home. Katy wasn't convinced, but there was no way that the two of them were to be separated, so they both smiled politely at Thorin and thanked him for the invitation. He merely grunted at them, and walked away. _Such a charmer, _thought Katy.

The rest of the dwarves appeared to be busy preparing for next day's departure, and while the girls wanted to ask more about the quest, they didn't find the opportunity to continue their chat with Fili and Kili. They spent most of the night musing over what might actually be involved in this quest (apart from the dragon, they didn't remember much from what the dwarves said), and when they had finally fallen asleep, they were convinced that they had heard the dwarves singing again.

As Sarah pulled herself out of the bed, she looked down at her clothes and frowned.

'I'm not sure I'm going to be much use on this quest if I'm constantly pulling up my jeans and falling out of my shoes,' she said to her friend.

Katy raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah, sure, because in clothes that fit you'll be a proper Robin Hood!'

'Hey, for all you know we might be suited perfectly for this quest. All I meant was that we should probably find some clothes that aren't hanging off us. It isn't a great look.'

Katy had to agree. 'I wonder if Bilbo has anything that would fit?'

'We should probably ask him first, he was a bit funny with the dwarves eating his food. I doubt he would be thrilled if we came marching out in his clothes,' Sarah said.

'You're right. I'm not even sure that he has anything we'll want to wear.'

Sarah laughed. 'Don't think we'll have that luxury! You'll have to rely on your pretty face and sense of humour rather than your sense of style to flirt with that dwarf.'

Katy blushed slightly. 'I have no idea what you could be possibly talking about!'

'Ha! You are so in denial. At least I'm admitting that I fancy his mate.' Sarah grinned.

The girls opened the door, and immediately heard a chorus of what could only be snoring dwarves. They tried not to laugh as they tiptoed into the kitchen to find something to eat. Armed with some bread and fruit, they were about to make their way back to the spare bedroom when they heard a voice behind them.

'Anything left for us?'

Katy and Sarah both jumped, and turned to see Kili grinning at them.

'Oh, it's you, I thought it was Grumpy for a second' Sarah said, relieved.

'Grumpy?' Kili didn't understand.

'Oh, you know, Thorin, is it? Not exactly a ray of sunshine, is he?' Sarah explained.

Kili nodded. 'My uncle has a lot on his mind. He's determined to win back his kingdom for his people'.

'And suddenly I feel like a bit of a bitch for saying that, sorry…' Sarah trailed off.

The girls and the dwarf were silent for a couple of seconds until Katy realised what Kili had just said.

'Wait, uncle? He's your uncle?'

The dwarf grinned again (_God, he has such a cute smile, _thought Sarah).

"Yes! Myself and Fili are his sister's sons,' he explained.

'Oh, you and Fili are brothers?' Sarah asked, 'I didn't realise. Ha, Katy – we've never dated brothers before!'

Katy glared at Sarah, but before Kili could ask what she meant, Katy tried to move the conversation on.

'So, are all the other dwarves related to Thorin as well? We've not really been properly introduced.'

Kili shook his head. 'Just Fili and I. I'll introduce you to the others, though! It's about time that they got up anyway.'

Sarah and Katy then followed Kili back into the living room, where all the dwarves slept. Kili proceeded to kick each of the sleeping dwarves in turn while shouting their name at the girls.

'That's Oin…this here is Bofur…Nori…I think you've already met Dwalin…this is Bombur…that's Ori and then that's Gloin…he's Balin…that one is Dori…this is Bifur… and you know Fili!'

Kili saved the biggest kick of all for his brother, who woke up with a shout and lunged for Kili. The girls looked on in amusement as Fili tackled his brother to the floor before Dwalin tore them apart.

'Enough!' he bellowed. 'Let's get some breakfast.'

Giggling, Kili and Fili picked themselves up off the floor and began to follow the rest of the dwarves into the kitchen. Fili stopped, noticing Katy, and gave a shy wave.

'So you're joining us on our quest, then?' he asked her.

Katy nodded. 'Looks like it! Unless you're uncle suddenly decides otherwise. I'm not sure we have much choice in the matter…'

'Well, let's hope he doesn't change his mind,' Fili said, smiling.

Katy blushed.

'So, er, what else can we expect on this quest? Are you travelling far?' she asked the dwarf.

'Hopefully we wont run into too many problems, and it should only take a few weeks to get to the Lonely Mountain.' Fili replied.

Katy was about to ask what he thought constituted a problem, but Thorin called on his nephews to help prepare the ponies, and smiling at Katy, Fili made his way outside with his brother.

'Ah, you're smitten, aren't you?' giggled Sarah from behind.

Katy turned to her and smacked her lightly on the arm.

'Not as smitten as you are!'

Sarah grinned. 'Come on, Gandalf is going to sort out some clothes for us.'

Bilbo was still asleep in his bedroom, but Gandalf assured the girls that the hobbit wouldn't mind them wearing the pieces that he laid out in front of them.

'Not bad, Gandalf, we can work with these!' Sarah grinned, holding up a short pair of trousers and a belt.

'Hobbits don't wear shoes, so you'll just have to either make do with your own or go barefoot. I'm not sure that the dwarves have any to spare.' Gandalf said, as he left the room.

Once they were changed and had managed to make their shoes a bit more secure using some rope, Katy scribbled a note to Bilbo, thanking him for the clothes and for letting them into his home yesterday.

'I feel a bit bad, not saying goodbye.' She said to Sarah.

'Yeah, he was a bit odd, but I liked him. Who knows, maybe we'll meet him again. Maybe there's a sequel to that book!' Sarah laughed.

'Please don't even joke about that, let's just get through this quest in one piece,' Katy said as she went out the room.

The girls made their way outside, and found all the dwarves sitting on ponies, waiting for them. Two small packs were sitting on the ground in front of them, which Thorin gestured to.

'Put those on and climb onto that pony, you'll need to share one. It was supposed to be for the hobbit but clearly he wont be needing it.'

'And good morning to you, too!' Sarah said brightly as she and Katy picked up their packs.

Katy could see Fili and Kili trying not to laugh.

Packs on, the girls spent about five minutes trying to climb onto the pony before Bofur helped them up.

'Up you go, lassies! Have you never ridden before?' The two girls shook their heads. 'Don't worry, it will come naturally to you!'

Sarah gripped her friend tightly around the waist as Katy held the reins, not really sure what she should be doing.

Thorin shouted at them to start moving, and the ponies took off at a gentle pace, which was still a little too quick for Katy and Sarah. They found themselves near the back of the group, and soon Kili and Fili had made their way to either side of their pony.

'Are you enjoying the quest yet?' Kili asked them eagerly. Katy caught Fili rolling his eyes.

'Erm, yeah, it's not bad so far, not too keen on the ponies, but we're managing.' Sarah replied, as she tried to move Katy's hair out of her face.

'Our uncle asked us to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't get into trouble,' Fili said to Katy.

'Oh really? And what kind of trouble does he think we'll get ourselves mixed up in?' she replied, smiling sweetly at him.

'You are so flirting with him…' she heard Sarah whisper in her ear, and Katy gave her a sharp poke with her elbow.

'I guess the kind that got you lost in the first place!' Fili laughed.

'Well, that was kind of Sarah's fault, really-'

'MY FAULT?' Sarah blasted, 'How was it my fault?'

Katy tried to turn around on the pony to face her friend.

'I believe your words were, _Fancy finding out if we're going to meet Mr Right on our travels_, and then that woman started talking about wizards!'

'Damn, you have a good memory,' muttered Sarah.

Katy smiled gleefully. 'Who knows, maybe Gandalf is your perfect match!'

Kili and Fili were watching on in amusement, not really sure what to make of it all. _Such strange creatures, _they both thought.

They continued on in silence, with the girls concentrating on not falling off the pony while Kili and Fili wondered just who Mr Right was, until shouting was heard behind them. The dwarves and the girls stopped their ponies.

'Wait, wait! I signed it!'

Katy and Sarah smiled at each other, recognising the voice.

'It's Mister Boggins!' exclaimed Kili.

'Bilbo, you decided you join us!' Katy grinned.

'Either that or you want your clothes back…' said Sarah.

Bilbo handed Balin the piece of paper he was carrying, and the old dwarf checked it through quickly and nodded.

'Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield'

All the dwarves but Thorin gave a little cheer, and Katy and Sarah gave a loud whoop of delight. Finally Thorin spoke.

'The hobbit can have the females' pony. Kili, Fili, you can share your ponies with them instead. They're just about falling off on their own.'

Sarah huffed loudly as Bilbo started talking about his walking holidays.

'We aren't _that _bad, are we?'

Katy gave her a nervous look.

'Speak for yourself! We need to get off this pony first!'

The dwarves and the hobbit watched in pained silence as one at a time, each girl tumbled off the pony.

'Thanks for all the help, guys! Much appreciated!' Sarah said, with more than a bit of sarcasm.

Bilbo was still protesting against using a pony, and was only quiet when Kili and Fili lifted him on the girls' pony. He didn't look comfortable in the slightest.

Thorin glared at the girls.

'Hurry up and get on behind my nephews, we're wasting time'.

For once Sarah didn't have any good come-backs, and she and Katy scrambled up onto Fili and Kili's ponies as quickly and gracefully as they could.

'Hold on tight,' Kili said to Sarah with a grin, as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Katy did the same behind Fili, and the girls smiled at each other as the ponies started to move again.

Soon, bags of coins were being thrown from dwarf to dwarf.

'What's all that about?' Katy asked, as a bag almost hit her as it passed between Nori and Oin.

'We took bets on whether the hobbit would show up or not,' replied Bofur.

'Yeah, some of us are short of a few coins thanks to Bilbo!' Dori muttered, as he flung a bag of coins to Bofur.

'But at least we've got our burglar!' the dwarf grinned.

As the ponies trekked on, Fili turned to look at Katy.

'So, come on, then. Tell us who this Mr Right is that you're looking for?' he said to her.

Katy wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

'Um, no one. It's just a figure of speech from where we're from,' she said, a tiny bit embarrassed.

The dwarf looked confused, then shrugged.

'I see. So what did you do, before you got lost?' he asked.

It was strange – up until that point Katy and Sarah hadn't really thought too much about what they had left behind. They had focused so much on _how _they were going to get home that thinking of the actual place and the people they had left behind made them a little bit sad. And also a little guilty for not feeling it sooner.

Sarah cleared her throat before answering.

'We were studying to become teachers. We were planning to travel around the world a bit before getting a job.'

'And then we came here…' Katy whispered, a little tearfully.

Kili and Fili exchanged looks, realising that their questions we're upsetting the girls.

'Don't worry, Gandalf is a wizard. He'll find a way to get you home. He's helping us reclaim ours, and he'll do the same for you,' said Kili, giving the girls an encouraging smile.

They both smiled back, and all four of them fell into a comfortable silence.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Thorin called for the company to stop in a clearing on the edge of a cliff.

'We'll camp here for the night. Fili! Kili! Watch the ponies. Bombur – prepare some food for everyone.'

The two young dwarves helped Katy and Sarah down from the ponies, and both girls felt stiff from riding all day.

'Oh god I can't feel my bum!' Sarah cried, hitting it with her hand.

'Tell me about it. And my legs are aching,' Katy replied, slowly making her way over to a large log. She looked at the hard surface, before pulling a blanket out of her pack and using it as a cushion.

All the dwarves seemed to know what tasks were needed to set up camp, and the girls and Bilbo felt awkwardly out of place.

'Do you think we should offer to help?' Katy whispered to them both.

'To be honest we'll probably just get in the way,' Sarah reasoned, and Bilbo looked to agree.

Before long, Bombur had made a thick stew, and the camp was silent but for scrapping of bowls and chewing of food.

Sarah noticed Ori scribbling on some paper.

'What are you writing?' she asked him.

He looked up, a bit startled.

Bofur chuckled. 'Don't worry, lad, she don't bite!'

Ori gave a shy smile to the girl.

'I'm keeping a record of the quest. Thorin asked me to,' he said, proudly.

'Yeah, you really should. My mum asked me to write a diary when I went travelling,' Sarah told him, but before she could get sentimental Katy came over to where she sat.

'Are you ready to get some sleep? Kili has saved a spot for you.'

Sarah gave her friend a small smile.

'Too cute…'

She said goodnight to Ori, and went over with Katy to a small patch of grass next to a large rock where Kili and Fili had set up their sleeping mats.

'I'm guessing you guys need to keep an eye on us while we're asleep, eh?' Sarah said cheekily.

'Aye, girls, they'd hate for you to run off into the wild without them,' Balin answered, as he closed his eyes. The two dwarves looked a bit sheepish.

Thorin must have heard him.

'Kili and Fili, you two have first watch!' he barked at his nephews.

Katy and Sarah laughed as they tried to find a comfortable position on the ground.

'I hate camping,' muttered Sarah.

The girls couldn't tell how long they had been asleep when they heard a scream from somewhere in the distance.

Katy was instantly awake, and sat up quickly, shaking Sarah.

'What the hell was that?'

Bilbo had also woken up, and come scuttling over to where she sat.

'You heard it too?"

Both girls nodded.

'Orcs,' Kili whispered, from where he sat next to them.

Katy hadn't even realised both he and Fili were still awake.

'Orcs? What the hell are orcs?' asked Sarah.

'Throat-cutters,' said Fili. 'There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them.'

Bilbo, Katy and Sarah looked at one another fearfully.

'They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood,' Kili told them.

'And you didn't think to mention them before?!' Katy practically screamed at him.

Fili and Kili stayed silent, and then suddenly started laughing at the looks on both the girls and the hobbit's faces.

'You think that's funny?' Thorin interjected, wiping the smiles off the dwarves faces.

'You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?'

Kili couldn't look his uncle in the eye.

'We didn't mean anything by it,' he mumbled.

'No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world,' Thorin spat, before walking off to the edge of cliff.

Katy and Sarah didn't know what to say to Kili and Fili, after their harsh reprimanding from their uncle. They gave them both a small smile to show they weren't annoyed at them, and then tried, unsuccessfully, to get back to sleep.

Balin came over to where they lay.

'Don't mind him, laddie', he reassured Kili. 'Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs,'

The old dwarf continued to tell them about Thorin and the Pale Orc, and Katy and Sarah drifted off into a fitful sleep, wondering what the hell they had got themselves mixed up in.


	7. Chapter 7

Katy and Sarah's third morning in Middle Earth started early, and both girls woke to sore backs from sleeping on the hard ground. Neither of them could quite get Balin's story of the Pale Orc out of their heads, and as they splashed their faces with water in a nearby stream, it was all they could talk about.

'I'm scared, Sarah. And by scared I mean terrified. That Pale Orc thing might be dead, but what else is out there?' whispered Katy.

'I know. I'm starting to think that agreeing to go on this quest wasn't such a great idea,' Sarah replied.

'Like you said before, I doubt we had much choice where Thorin's concerned. He still doesn't seem to trust us,' said Katy, as both girls made their way back to camp.

'I just feel so much out of my depth. I mean how are we meant to defend ourselves if something does attack us? Are we meant to let the dwarves help us? I'm starting to wish I didn't give up on those karate lessons when I was younger,' Sarah said.

'Yeah something makes me think that my zumba moves aren't going to be much use,' Katy joked, trying to lift the mood.

As they joined the dwarves and Bilbo for breakfast, it was clear that they weren't the only ones who had been affected by the story of the Pale Orc. Kili and Fili were more subdued than normal, possibly still feeling a bit guilty over scaring the hobbit and the girls last night.

'You ladies manage to freshen up a bit?' asked Bofur, while stuffing his face full of sausages.

'Hmm, not so much. I would kill for a proper shower and some shampoo. I hate to think what bugs are starting to crawl around in my hair…' Sarah said, running her hand through her dirty blonde locks.

'Ah, living with nature never did anyone any harm!' the dwarf replied.

'Keep thinking that thought when you see how frizzy Katy's hair can get!' laughed Sarah, as Katy tried to subtly flatten her hair.

Thorin soon announced that they were to continue moving, and the girls found themselves once again sharing a pony with Kili and Fili. Neither dwarf was very talkative, seemingly still upset after a telling off from Thorin, and just when Katy and Sarah couldn't think that it could get worse, it started to rain. Heavily.

'You just had to mention a shower, didn't you Sarah?' sighed Katy.

'Hey, at least it will flatten down your hair!' her friend shouted back, 'But if that doesn't work, maybe you can ask Fili to tie it in braids. These dwarves seem pretty keen on braiding their hair!'

As soon as Sarah mentioned Fili braiding Katy's hair, both girls felt the dwarves tense up in front of them.

'What? Can we not braid our hair since we're not dwarves?' asked Sarah.

Kili shifted slightly round to face her.

'No-o, that's not it. It's just when a female asks a male to braid her hair, she's more often than not asking him to start courting her. And then you've got your different courting braids, and marriage braids, and fertility braids…' Kili trailed off.

Sarah was silent for a moment, and turned to Katy and Fili, who were both trying not to look at anything, their faces bright red.

'Whoops...' Sarah said, grinning at them both. She then turned back to face Kili.

'So what if I was to start braiding your hair? Would that be a dwarf way of asking you out?'

Now it was Kili's turn to go bright red.

Katy sniggered, glad for the attention to be off her and Fili.

'Don't worry, Kili, she was always quite forward when it came to asking guys out. She's harmless really!'

A few of the other dwarves were looking at the two girls, not quite understanding what they were laughing about, but at least it lightened the mood somewhat, despite the rain. Kili and Fili both looked a lot more cheerful, once they had got over their initial embarrassment.

As the afternoon wore on, the rain continued, until even the dwarves were fed up with it.

'Here, Mr Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?' asked Dori.

The wizard didn't look impressed with that request.

'It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard.'

Bilbo asked Gandalf about whether there were any other wizards, and Katy and Sarah listened on fascinated as Gandalf told them about Saruman the White and Radagast the Brown.

'I always just assumed the Gandalf was the only wizard,' muttered Sarah.

'I wonder if that old woman at the fair was some kind of wizard? I mean, for her to be able to magic us here,' Katy thought out loud.

'After all the things we've seen here, who knows,' replied Sarah.

Thankfully, the rain soon cleared, and the company stopped by an old, abandoned farmhouse.

'We'll camp here for the night,' Thorin announced. 'Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them.'

As everyone dismounted from their ponies and started to set up camp, Katy and Sarah went to talk to Gandalf. They hadn't stopped thinking about the idea that the old woman could have been some kind of wizard, and wanted to see what Gandalf thought about it. However, it soon became clear that the wizard was having a heated conversation with Thorin, and neither girl wanted to interrupt. They didn't know what they were discussing, but heard the word _elf _mentioned quite a lot. Suddenly the conversation seemed to be over, and Gandalf marched off.

Bilbo looked as concerned as the girls did.

'Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?' the hobbit asked.

'To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense,' the wizard huffed.

When Bilbo asked who he meant, Gandalf replied loudly.

'Myself, Mr Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day.'

Sarah and Katy gave each other a quick look before scurrying off after the wizard.

'Gandalf! Are you really going? Can we come with you?' shouted Katy.

'Yeah, what happened to helping us get home?' Sarah added.

The wizard stopped in his tracks and turned to face the girls, giving them a small smile.

'I just need to look ahead at a few things. And I haven't forgotten about helping you. Don't worry, I will return,' he said kindly, 'Stick with the dwarves. They'll look after you.'

With that, Gandalf continued marching off before either girl had a chance to reply.

'Why does it feel like everyone is always telling us what to do, ever since we got here?' Sarah muttered, and Katy nodded in agreement at her.

Darkness fell on the camp, and still Gandalf hadn't returned. Bombur had made soup for dinner, and as the company ate, the girls tried not to get too worried about the wizard. Bilbo also seemed quite nervous without Gandalf around, and Bofur tried to calm the hobbit.

'He's a wizard! He does as he chooses,' the dwarf said, handing two bowls of soup to Bilbo. 'Here, do us a favour, take this to Kili and Fili, they're still keeping an eye on the ponies.'

As the hobbit went off with the bowls of soup, Katy turned to Bofur.

"Were Gandalf and Thorin talking about elves?' she asked him.

'Er, I'm not too sure. Why do you ask?' he replied, glancing over at Thorin.

Katy shrugged.

'No reason, just curious. Sarah and I have met wizards, hobbits and dwarves, I'm just wondering what other creatures we'll meet. Might be quite nice to meet an elf. Are they friendly?' Katy went on.

Bofur looked increased uncomfortable with the girl's questions, and kept checking to see whether Thorin was listening.

'Well, er, elves are a bit of an odd race, and haven't always, eh, gotten on with dwarves. Bit of a history there, if you know what I mean,' Bofur stuttered.

Sarah and Katy could sense that the dwarf didn't want to be having this conversation, so didn't question him further. That didn't stop their curiosity about elves though.

'Let's go and ask Kili and Fili. I bet you'd only have to bat your eyes and Fili would tell us everything,' Sarah whispered.

Katy rolled her eyes at her friend.

'What?!' Sarah said indignantly, 'He seemed keen to find out who your Mr Right was. And I bet he would braid your hair if you asked him.'

Katy still said nothing, and pulled her friend through the trees to where the two young dwarves were watching the ponies. At first they couldn't see the dwarves, but then spotted two bowls of soup on a thick branch, and Kili, Fili and Bilbo crouched down behind a rock close by.

'What the hell are you doing?' said Sarah, loudly, as she and Katy went over to them.

The three of them turned around simultaneously put their fingers to their lips.

'Shhh! Two of the ponies are missing! And we've just seen where they've gone,' whispered Kili, as he dragged both girls onto the ground.

'I thought you were supposed to be watching the ponies? How did you manage to lose two of them?' asked Katy, as she tried to peer over the rock.

'We were watching them! We were just getting them some water, and then we realised Daisy and Bungo were missing,' Fili replied.

'So you said you knew where they had gone?' she asked the dwarf.

Before Fili had a chance to reply, harsh laughter was heard close by.

'Yeah, erm, see that light in the distance?' Kili said, 'Well it's a fire. And it would seem that some trolls have our ponies and are planning on cooking them.'

Katy and Sarah were silent for a minute.

'I'm sorry, what? I could have sworn you just said trolls?' said Katy.

More laughter was heard, and the dwarves, girls and hobbit all peered over the rock to see three huge trolls sat around a fire.

'Oh look at that, you did say trolls,' Sarah whispered, in shock.

Katy had a look of pure horror on her face.

'What are we going to do?! Should we tell Thorin?' she asked.

Both Kili and Fili quickly shook their heads.

'Uhh, no. Let's not worry him just yet,' said Fili, and he and his brother then turned to Bilbo, who for all this time had been sitting quite still, looking like he wished he was back in his hobbit hole.

'We thought our official burglar might be able to do something,' Fili continued.

'Me? What could I do?' Bilbo spluttered.

'It's perfectly safe. Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small. You'll be able to creep up on them, and they would never know,' Kili said, pushing Bilbo in the direction of the fire.

'No, no, no…' the hobbit wasn't liking this idea one bit, and Sarah and Katy weren't too keen on it either.

'You're just going to send Bilbo after the trolls? What about you and all your weapons?' said Sarah, as Fili and Kili continued to push the hobbit ahead.

'It'll be fine, we'll be right behind you. If you run into trouble, hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl,' encouraged Fili.

Bilbo wandered off, muttering the dwarf's instructions to himself, and Kili and Fili start to make their way back to camp.

'Are you not going to follow him? You said you would be right behind him,' said Katy. Both she and Sarah hadn't moved from behind the rock.

'Look, we need to tell Thorin about the trolls, and to work out a plan. The hobbit will be fine. Come on, let's get back to camp,' replied Kili, reaching for Sarah's hand.

The girls stood up, but didn't move towards the dwarves.

'No. We're going to help Bilbo. He doesn't have any weapons. He's about as out of his depth on this quest as we are,' said Sarah, firmly.

Katy nodded.

'She's right. The last thing I want to do is fight some trolls, but Bilbo is our friend, and you can't just send him off into danger.' Katy was surprised at how calm she sounded.

'Don't be silly, you'll get yourselves hurt. Come back to camp, and we'll sort this out,' Fili said, trying to reason with them.

The girls still refused to move, and after a minute of staring at each other, Kili let out an exasperated sigh.

'Fine, help Bilbo. But try not to get yourselves caught. We'll be back to help soon,' he said, and both dwarves made their way back to camp.

Suddenly alone, both girls didn't feel as confident as they had done a moment ago.

Sarah turned to Katy.

'Right then, I guess we better go and help Bilbo.'

'And what exactly are we meant to do?' asked Katy, as they both started to tiptoe towards the fire.

'I have absolutely no idea. But I wasn't about to tell that to those two know-it-all hot dwarves,' replied Sarah.

As the girls got nearer to the fire, they could hear voices, and soon three large trolls came into sight. At first Katy and Sarah just stood in shock, not quite believing what they were seeing.

'Oh my god. So we've met wizards, hobbits, dwarves, and now trolls. This trip just gets better,' said Katy.

'Yep, it sure does. Come on, I think I see Bilbo over there,' Sarah said, grabbing Katy's arm.

The trolls were too busy preparing the fire, and hadn't yet noticed the girls or the hobbit. Katy and Sarah crept over to where Bilbo was trying to free the two ponies.

'Bilbo! We're here to help you!' Sarah whispered, and the hobbit jumped when he saw them both.

'I can't cut the rope. I need a knife or something,' he whispered back, and all three of them glanced over at the trolls.

The hobbit slowly started to move towards one of the trolls, as Katy and Sarah pulled at the ropes around the ponies.

'Where are those bloody dwarves when you need them,' muttered Sarah.

Suddenly they heard a shout, and turned to see one of trolls holding up Bilbo.

'What are you then? An oversized squirrel?'

'I'm a burglar, uh, hobbit' replied Bilbo.

The troll looked at Bilbo, puzzled, and the other trolls try to grab him, which only resulted in Bilbo falling to the ground and scurrying away. All three trolls tried to catch him, and Bilbo did well to dodge their fists, until he was eventually caught.

Before Sarah and Katy have time to think, they were running through the grass towards the trolls, and Bilbo was almost dropped once again as the trolls tried to grab the girls.

Katy and Sarah started kicking and scratching the trolls' legs, but soon they too are being help upside down by the trolls.

'Look, now we got one burglar-hobbit each!' one of the trolls said, and they all started laughing.

The girls and Bilbo desperately tried to kick themselves free, but the trolls tightened their grip. Sarah tried to catch Katy's eye, and the only thing she could think about is Kili's last words to her, _just don't get caught. _She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what was about to happen, when suddenly she heard Kili's voice.

'DROP THEM!'

Sarah opened her eyes, and there was Kili, sword in hand. _God, he's hot, _she thought.

The trolls look confused.

'You what?'

'I said, drop them!' Kili shouted, cutting one of the trolls in the leg.

The troll dropped Sarah, who landed right on top of Kili, but before the creature could do anything else, there was a loud cry from the trees. The rest of the dwarves came charging out, weapons raised, and started hacking and slashing at the trolls' legs, causing them to drop Katy and Bilbo.

Kili pulled Sarah to her feet.

'You took your time,' she said to him, but before he could reply all the dwarves suddenly stop fighting, and Sarah soon realised why - Bilbo was once again in the hands of the trolls.

'Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off,' said one of the trolls.

Thorin looks frustrated, but has no choice but to throw down his sword, and the rest of the dwarves did the same. It doesn't take the trolls long to have the girls, Bilbo and half the dwarves tied up in sacks, and for the other half of the dwarves roasting on a spit over the fire.

Katy was lying in between Fili and Bilbo.

'Sorry your rescue mission didn't go quite to plan,' she whispered to the hobbit, who gave her a small smile.

'Maybe if you had come back to camp then you wouldn't be tied up about to be a troll's dinner,' muttered Fili, and Katy glared at him.

'Look, I'm tied up in a sack, I'm completely filthy and about to be eaten by a troll. I don't need you to say I told you so!'

Fili smirked. 'And I never did get to braid your messy hair,'

Despite her annoyance at him, Katy couldn't help but blush.

On the mention of her hair, Bilbo gave a jolt, and shouted at the trolls, who were back on the topic of how to cook the dwarves.

'Wait! You are making a terrible mistake!'

The dwarves, the girls and the trolls didn't know where he was going with this.

'What do you mean?' one of the trolls asked.

'You can't cook them like that, have you smelt them? You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up,' Bilbo said.

The trolls continued to look confused.

'What do you know about cooking dwarf?'

Bilbo started prattling on about skinning them, and Katy gave him a desperate look, really hoping that he knew where he was going with this.

Suddenly one of the trolls grabbed Bombur, and held him above his mouth.

'No! Not that one, he's infected!' screamed Bilbo.

'You what?' The trolls were confused.

'Yeah, he's got worms in his…tubes,' Bilbo gulped.

As soon as he said that, the troll dropped Bombur quickly, and he landed right on top of Sarah. _That's got to hurt, _thought Katy.

'In fact, they all have, they're infested with parasites. It's a terrible business, I wouldn't even risk it, I really wouldn't,' the hobbit continued.

If it hadn't been that they were about to be eaten by trolls, Sarah and Katy would have burst out laughing, because the dwarves' reaction to being told that they had parasites was priceless.

'Parasites, did he say parasites?'

'We don't have parasites! You have parasites!' (_Great come-back, Kili, just great, _thought Sarah).

The girls weren't sure what Bilbo was trying to achieve, but they were sure he had some kind of plan. Thorin appeared to catch on to it as well, as he started kicking the dwarves around him. Suddenly, the dwarves were quite proud of those apparent parasites.

'I've got parasites as big as my arm'

'Mine are the biggest parasites, I've got huge parasites!'

'We're riddled!'

The trolls appeared even more confused, and didn't know what to do with their dinner. Before they could decide, though, a figure appeared suddenly on a rock above them, and both Katy and Sarah had never been more delighted to see that Gandalf had returned.

'The dawn will take you all!' exclaimed the wizard, and the trolls watched in confusion as Gandalf struck the rock with his staff, causing it to split in half. Sunlight poured in, and the trolls quickly turned to stone.

'What the hell?!' shouted both Katy and Sarah simultaneously.

The girls couldn't stop looking at the stone trolls as Gandalf helped untie them, the dwarves and Bilbo.

'God, I think I've really seen everything now. I can't believe they just turned to stone!' said Katy, as Sarah stood tapping the stone troll in disbelief.

Gandalf smiled. 'My dear, even those who have lived in Middle Earth for some time have been shocked by what exist here. Your reactions don't surprise me at all.'

Thorin came up to speak to Gandalf, and Katy quickly made herself scarce. After Gandalf storming off earlier, and his dramatic return, she expected that the company leader would have some questions. _And who knows, maybe even an apology, _she thought.

Katy went over to join Sarah, who was still tapping away at the stone troll.

She grinned at her.

'Kind of hard to believe, isn't it?'

Sarah just looked a bit bewildered, before noticing that Kili and Fili were approaching.

'Heads up, hot dwarves coming,' she said as she nodded in their direction.

'Are you both ok? It can be quite a shock seeing a troll turn to stone, especially just after you've almost been eaten by them,' said Kili.

'I think we'll cope,' Sarah said bluntly.

Both young dwarves seemed a little taken aback by the girl's attitude, and Katy pointed out the reason why.

'That wasn't a very nice thing you did to Bilbo. Sending him after the ponies, knowing full well he didn't know what to do.'

'He's our burglar! He's going to help us defeat a dragon! I'm sure three stupid trolls were nothing to him,' said Fili.

'Nothing to him? He almost got torn in half! And it was still a rubbish thing you did,' retorted Sarah.

Kili and Fili glanced at each other, not quite believing that the girls were annoyed at them.

'We're, erm, sorry?' offered Kili.

'It's not us you should be apologising to,' said Katy.

Before anymore could be said, Thorin called out for the company to return to camp. He was keen to move on from this place, but before they did, there was a troll cave to explore nearby.

Some of the dwarves went into the cave to inspect the hoard, but Katy and Sarah could smell it from outside, and didn't want to get any closer. Kili and Fili were hovering close to the girls, not sure if they were still in trouble over what they had done to Bilbo, and they kept trying to catch the girls' eyes and send little hopeful smiles their way.

Gandalf came out of the cave clutching some small swords, and after giving one to Bilbo, approached the girls.

'Now I hope that you never have to use them, but I think it would be sensible if you had some kind of weapon to defend yourselves with,' the wizard said, handing a sword to each girl.

Both Sarah and Katy didn't have a clue what to do with the weapon, but thanked Gandalf quietly. They could see the sense in having a weapon, but they just didn't want to think about what they might have to use it against.

'Ever used one of these in your zumba classes?' Sarah joked, as she started to wave it around.

'Careful, you could do some damage with that,' Kili said, approaching slowly.

Sarah turned to the dwarf, holding out the weapon.

'Oh yeah? Better not piss me off again, then eh?'

Kili gave a small smile. 'Fili and I could teach you to use them, if you want.'

Sarah and Katy smiled at each other.

'Yeah, go on then. We could use something to point our swords at,' smirked Katy.

Fili and Kili beamed at them, but were soon distracted by a shout from Thorin. Something was coming through the trees, headed this way.

'Stay together! Hurry now. Arm yourselves!'

Katy and Sarah glanced at their swords, grimacing. They didn't think they would need to use them this quickly.

Suddenly, a group of large rabbits burst through the trees, pulling a sled, and holding onto the sled was a man dressed, as what Sarah and Katy could only describe, as a tree.

'Ok, for like the hundredth time today, I'm speechless. Who the hell is that?' whispered Sarah.

'Radagast! Radagast the Brown!' Gandalf exclaimed.

'Ah, that other wizard!' muttered Katy.

Sarah was about to wonder how powerful this wizard was, when Radagast opened his mouth and removed a stick insert. _Bit odd, _she thought.

Gandalf took Radagast aside to speak to him, and he seemed concerned by what he heard. They were interrupted by a howl in the distance, and once again the girls glanced towards their swords. Bilbo looked just as fearful.

'Was that a wolf? Are there wolves out there?'

'Wolves? No, that is not a wolf,' answered Bofur, as what looked like a massive wild sort of dog burst into the clearing. The dwarves acted quickly, with Thorin striking the creature with his sword and Kili shooting it with an arrow.

'Warg-Scouts! Which means an Orc pack is not far behind,' shouted Thorin.

Katy and Sarah stood still, rooted to the ground.

_Orcs?_

To be honest, they thought they had dealt with the whole troll incident quite well, but _orcs?_ They hadn't even seen the creature before, but the name still struck fear in their bones. Suddenly, both girls wanted to be home, desperately.

The dwarves were quick to act, except the ponies had fled. Those silly little ponies, who Bilbo, Katy and Sarah had tried to rescue, had run away. Little buggers.

Radagast, though, was keen to help.

'I'll draw them off,'

Gandalf looked nervous. 'There are Gundabad Wargs, they will outrun you'

Radagast simply smirked in response.

'These are Rhosgobel Rabbits, I'd like to see them try!'

With that, the wizard took off on his sled, and soon the company saw a pack of wargs and orcs chase after him. They couldn't watch for long, as soon Gandalf shouted at them to move, and Katy and Sarah found themselves running as quickly as they could alongside the other dwarves. For the next ten minutes or so, all they thought about was running and keeping up with everyone. Gandalf and Thorin led them across the grassy plains, and they stopped to hide behind rocks for brief moments, before charging out and running at top speed again. It was exhausting, but neither Katy or Sarah had time to think about what was happening, let alone feel tired.

It was when they were paused at a large rock that Sarah noticed she could no longer see Gandalf. She was about to say something, but stopped herself when she saw that wargs were approaching them for all sides. They were trapped.

'We're surrounded!' Fili cried, as he tried to keep an eye on Katy.

The dwarves had now noticed that Gandalf was no longer with them, and shouted that he had abandoned them.

Suddenly he appeared from behind a nearby rock.

'This way, you fools!'

Thorin urged them on, and they quickly ran towards where the wizard stood. Kili stayed near the back, shooting as many orcs and wargs as he could.

As Sarah and Katy reached the rock, they noticed a large crack in it, and Gandalf was shouting at the dwarves to slide down into it. The girls followed them, and soon Thorin and Kili joined them as well.

The whole company listened as something attacked a warg, sending it down into the crack in the rock, an arrow sticking out of its neck. Thorin pulled it out and examined it.

'Elves,' he spat.

Katy and Sarah looked at one another.

_Elves again._

The dwarves made their way to the back of the cave, where a narrow pathway began.

'I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?' said Dwalin.

'Follow it, of course!' Bofur was quick to reply, as the rest of the company made their way through the pathway's entrance.

After a few minutes, the pathway suddenly opened into a wide area above a valley, in which a city lay. The dwarves, Bilbo and the girls looked at it in silence.

'The Valley of Imraldis. In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name,' said Gandalf.

'Rivendell,' said Bilbo, quietly.

Katy and Sarah looked at each other.

'Who lives here?' Katy whispered at the hobbit.

'Elves,' he replied, causing the girls to smile. Looks like they were going to meet these creatures after all.


	8. Chapter 8

As the dwarves, Gandalf, Bilbo and the girls made their way slowly down into Rivendell, Katy and Sarah couldn't stop staring at, well, _everything._ They both had been surprised when they first saw Hobbiton, but this was something else altogether. The home of the elves was just so beautiful and serene, and neither of them believed they would see anything as stunning ever again. The girls could sense that the dwarves didn't share their wonder, and that Thorin in particular did not want to be here one bit. Katy and Sarah still didn't really understand exactly why the dwarves hated the elves, but from the snippets of conversation they heard between Thorin and Gandalf, they could tell it wouldn't be fixed with them stopping by for a quick chat.

The company walked over a bridge and into Rivendell itself, and elves suddenly appeared into front of them.

'Oh my god, they all look like models. Stunning, beautiful, perfect models,' whispered Sarah to Katy.

'I know. It's not doing a lot for my self-confidence,' Katy grumbled back.

A dark haired elf came up to the group to greet Gandalf. Straight away, both girls could feel the tension and distrust amongst the dwarves, but before they could think about it anymore, there was a blaring of horns, and a pack of horses ridden by elves come thundering over the bridge.

'Ready weapons! Hold ranks!' shouted Thorin, and the dwarves bundled together, and Bilbo, Katy and Sarah were pulled into the centre.

One of the elves dismounted, and began talking to Gandalf in a language the girls didn't understand. The wizard introduced the elf to Thorin.

'Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain,' said the elf, but the company leader didn't respond with similar kindness.

Standing there, after the rush of running from orcs, made Sarah and Katy realise just how tired they were, and they struggled to follow the conversation between the dwarf and the elf. Suddenly, though, food was mentioned, and even the dwarves seemed happy to be led by the elves down winding paths to a dining area, though they were soon disappointed with the vegetables put in front of them.

'Try it. Just a mouthful,' encouraged Dori to Ori.

Ori wasn't having any of it though.

'Have they got any chips?' he asked hopefully.

'Oh my god, chips! I would kill for a MacDonald's right now!' sighed Sarah. She and Katy didn't mind eating the vegetables, but even they were craving something a bit more substantial.

Before either of them could think about a Big Mac, an elf approached them.

'Lord Elrond wishes to speak to you both,' he said.

Katy and Sarah looked at each other apprehensively, before Gandalf spoke.

'It's ok, my dears, I shall accompany you. I have matters to discuss with Lord Elrond too.'

The girls got up silently from the table, and with a backward glance at the dwarves, went off with the wizard. Kili and Fili watched them walk away with looks of distrust.

As they entered the elf's chamber, Katy and Sarah felt slightly better when they realised that Elrond was the elf who greeted Gandalf and tried to welcome Thorin earlier. _A bit formal, but seems quite friendly, _thought Katy.

Elrond gave both girls a small smile.

'Welcome, ladies, to Rivendell. Gandalf has told me about your situation. I must say, it is highly unusual, and not one I have come across before.'

Sarah cleared her throat.

'I don't suppose you have any idea how we might get home, do you? Not that your place isn't nice, I mean it's lovely, it's just not, well, _home,' _she explained.

The elf and the wizard exchanged glances.

'While I do not wish to alarm you, my concern is that higher powers are at work here, and I need to consult with Gandalf and others before I can be in a position to assist you,' Elrond said, and both girls' hearts sank.

'In the meantime, you are more than welcome to stay here, in the safety of Rivendell, until such a time when you can return home,' he continued.

'Stay here? But what about the dwarves?' Katy said, surprising herself with the outburst.

'The dwarves have their own plans, and will move on regardless. But do not feel tied to them. You would be most comfortable here,' replied Elrond.

Both girl stood in silence, not quite sure what to say.

'Why don't you give Elrond's offer some thought, my dears, while I discuss some other matters with him,' said Gandalf.

'Eh, yeah, thanks Gandalf!' said Sarah, trying to sound positive.

The girls said goodbye to the wizard and the elf, and slowly made their way back to the dining area. It was a few minutes before either of them spoke.

'So, what do you think? Should we stay here?' asked Sarah.

Katy stopped to look out at the valley before them.

'I don't know. I mean, it's really pretty. And we would obviously be well looked after here,' she reasoned.

'Yup, I'm sure those elves have baths – did you see their hair?! And I doubt we would run into any orcs or trolls here,' Sarah said.

Both girls were silent again.

'But why is it that I'm actually thinking I would prefer to stick with the dwarves?' Katy sighed.

'I know. Me too. What is it about those grubby, grumpy, strange little dwarves,' said Sarah.

Katy just looked at her friend.

'I think we both know what it is. Or what it is about _two _of those dwarves in particular,' she muttered.

'Fine. We want to stick with the hot dwarves. But is that really worth risking our lives for? Cos that's what we would be doing. I doubt this quest of theirs is going to get any easier,' replied Sarah.

'Ok, we just need to think about this sensibly. Using our heads. We need to do whatever will get us home,' said Katy.

'But who's to say that staying here will get us home? Elrond seems as clueless as Gandalf when it comes to knowing what to do with us! We've been passed around from hobbit to dwarves to elves. I think it's time that we decided what we did,' Sarah practically shouted.

'Yeah, you're right, we should do what we-' Katy stopped mid-sentence. She had been looking across to a sparkling waterfall in the distance, when suddenly Fili came into her line of sight, walking towards her and Sarah.

Her friend turned to her when she didn't continue, and smiled when she saw Fili approaching.

'Well, there's part of the argument for staying with the dwarves,' she whispered, as she nudged Katy in the direction of the dwarf, 'I'll leave you two alone.'

Katy was about to respond when Sarah called out to Fili.

'You checking up on us or something? I'm suddenly hungry again, think I might go and see if any meat has been found in this place!'

_Always so, so subtle…_, thought Katy.

Fili smiled at them.

'A few of us were wondering where the elves had taken you.'

'Well, you know us, we're just fascinating creatures to you lot! I better go and make sure that brother of yours eats his greens!' Sarah said, walking off with a grin on her face.

As her friend disappeared, Katy was suddenly aware that she and Fili were alone, and couldn't think of anything to say to him. The two of them stood in silence, until the dwarf walked over to look at the valley of Rivendell.

'It's quite a place, isn't it?' he said, smiling slightly at Katy.

She nodded, still unsure what to say to him.

'Thorin is talking about us leaving first thing in the morning. We'll get some rest, probably get fed some more vegetables, and then be on our way,' Fili continued.

He looked at Katy.

'Is everything ok? You're not still annoyed at how we treated Bilbo, are you? Cos we didn't think anything bad would happen to him with the trolls.'

She shook her head.

'No, it's not that. Sarah and I have some decisions to make, and if I'm honest, it's making my head hurt a little. These past few days have made my head hurt a lot, actually. I still can't quite believe what's happening to us,' she smiled at him.

'What do you need to decide?' he asked.

'Gandalf, and now Elrond, are trying to find out how we got here, and how we can get home again. It's been really good of you and the other dwarves to watch out for us, but Elrond has said that we can stay here, in Rivendell, until we can get home,' Katy explained.

Fili didn't say anything.

'And we're trying to work out if that's what we're going to do,' she finished.

The dwarf still didn't say anything, and Katy looked at him expectantly.

'Well, I hope you make the right decision,' Fili said, finally.

Katy frowned.

'What's that supposed to mean? The whole point is that we don't know what the right decision is. Elves or dwarves? I can't even believe I'm having to make that decision,' she said, exasperated.

'I'm sorry. I guess I just don't want to make your decision even harder. You need to do what you want, not what, erm, others want. You and Sarah are the ones who are lost,' Fili tried to explain.

'Thanks for reminding me,' Katy muttered.

'I'm sorry,' he apologised again. 'I'm not making this easier for you, and I wish I could. Staying with the elves might be safer for you, but I wouldn't think you were safe unless I was watching over you myself.'

'Yeah, you're right, that's not making it any easier,' Katy laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

They stood in silence for a while, neither one of them wanting to say anything else.

'I should probably get something to eat,' Katy said eventually, but she didn't move.

Fili nodded.

'Yeah, it's not great food, but you should have something.'

They both started moving back towards the dining area, and they could soon hear the shouts of the other dwarves.

Suddenly Fili grabbed Katy's arm gently, and brought his mouth close to her ear.

'This isn't going to make your decision any easier, but I want you to come with us. Please don't stay here. I know I should be thinking about the quest but please let me keep you safe until you can get home.'

It was quite possibly one of the most romantic things that had been said to Katy, and she couldn't believe that it was coming from a _dwarf_, and that her first reaction was to kiss him. But she didn't. She couldn't even look him properly in the eye. Tears welling up in her eyes, she gave him a quick smile and walked on to find Sarah. _We've got some serious thinking to do_, she thought.

When she reached the dwarves, she couldn't see Sarah, or Kili, anywhere. The dwarves were in a jovial mood, probably due to the fact they had managed to find sausages from somewhere, and thankfully didn't notice that she was upset. Fili quietly sat down in a corner and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.

'Bombur!' shouted Bofur, flinging a sausage at the large dwarf.

Catching it, the table Bombur sat on collapsed, causing everyone but Katy and Fili to burst into hysterical laughter.

'Have you seen Sarah, anywhere?' Katy asked Ori.

The dwarf nodded.

'I think Kili is teaching her how to swordfight, they both went along that path,' he said, pointing to his right.

'Thanks, Ori,' Katy said smiling at the dwarf, and she headed off in that direction, trying not to look at Fili as she walked past him.

Kili had been teaching Sarah how to swordfight for the past twenty minutes, and she had spent the past fifteen minutes complaining about it.

'This is useless!' she shouted, swiping the air with her sword and causing Kili to jump back, 'This thing is far too heavy for me to actually use!'

'You're honestly not that bad, you just need to think about where you want it to strike,' encouraged the dwarf.

Sarah threw the sword to the ground, glaring at him.

'Maybe it's my teacher who's the problem. You're good at the bow and arrow stuff, you could teach me how to use that?' she asked.

Kili looked at bit horrified at the idea of Sarah firing an arrow.

'Ehh, maybe we'll leave that until another time,' he said, picking up her sword and handing it to her.

'Let's leave it for now. I'm exhausted. Besides, Katy and I need to decide whether we're staying here or coming with you lot tomorrow,' Sarah said.

Kili looked a bit startled.

'What? You're not coming with us? Why would you want to stay here?' he said loudly.

Sarah shrugged.

'I don't know, it seems safe here? We've kind of gate-crashed your quest, and we don't want to be a burden on you. Plus we do need to find a way home,' she explained.

The dwarf looked a bit put out.

'We don't mind you coming with us. We like having you around!' he said, giving her a smile.

Sarah didn't look convinced.

'Really? You _all _like having us around?'

'Ok, then, maybe just some of us. But definitely me. And Fili too!' Kili said.

'Hmm, and I like having you around too,' Sarah muttered.

She took her sword from Kili.

'Come on, we'd better get back to the others. Katy and I need to have a chat about what we're doing.'

Kili didn't move.

'You're serious, aren't you? About staying here?' he said quietly.

Sarah nodded.

'We need think about what's the sensible thing to do,' she replied.

'But what about what you really want? Shouldn't you do that? Even if it's not the sensible thing,' Kili said.

For a second Sarah just stood there, looking at him, without a clue what to say to that. _What the hell do I actually want to do?_ she thought.

She smiled softly at the dwarf.

'You want to know what I really want?' she asked him quietly, and he nodded.

Without even properly thinking it through, Sarah moved towards Kili, closing the gap between them. Moving her hands to either side of his head, she pulled his face towards hers, and pressed her lips firmly against his.

'Sarah!'

She pulled away from Kili, grinning at him, and he grinned back at her.

'Sarah!'

Sighing, she turned around to see Katy watching them both, gesturing for her to come over to where she stood.

'Give us a minute!' Sarah yelled, and she turned back to Kili, who was still grinning at her.

'So now you know what I want,' she said, and before he could say anything she kissed him quickly on the cheek and walked towards her friend. She didn't want him to see the tears in her eyes.

As Sarah approached her, Katy could see that her friend was upset, and she quickly pulled her into a hug.

'Did I just see you kiss Kili?' she whispered in her ear.

'Yup,' Sarah replied, and she pulled out of the hug to look at Katy.

'What about you? You seem upset too,' she asked.

'Well I didn't kiss Fili, if that's what you mean. I wanted to though,' Katy said, and she looked like she was going to cry again.

'God, what has happened to us! Are we seriously crying over a pair of dwarves because we might decide to stay with some elves as it's the sensible thing to do?! What kind of book is this?!' Sarah said, wiping away her tears.

'Hot dwarves, remember,' Katy sniffed, 'And you're the one who said we should be looking for Mr Right.'

'I didn't think I would find him in Middle Earth,' Sarah replied, and suddenly she started laughing. Katy soon joined her, and for a couple of minutes the two girls were laughing hysterically, still wiping away tears.

Sarah took a deep breath and stopped laughing.

'We need to decide what we're going to do.'

Katy nodded, and taking Sarah's hand, the girls walked in the opposite direction to where the dwarves were. They needed some time alone to think.

The dwarves didn't see the girls for the rest of the day, and when they asked where they were, an elf told them that Elrond had given them a room to sleep in. Kili and Fili's hearts sank when they heard that. _If he has given them a room,_ they both thought, _then I guess that means that they are staying._

As dawn broke, Thorin quietly woke the company up. He wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. Gandalf had told him that Katy and Sarah were deciding whether they were to remain in Rivendell, and when the dwarf didn't see them in the morning, he assumed that that was the last they would see of the girls.

'Come on, it's time to move,' Thorin said, once everyone had got their stuff together.

Bilbo looked around, slightly puzzled.

'But what about the girls? They aren't here yet!'

'They are no longer travelling with us. This is not their quest,' Thorin replied, glancing at his nephews, who both avoided his gaze.

A few of the other dwarves voiced their surprise at the news.

'They want to stay with the _elves_?!'

'They could've at least said goodbye!'

'Did you say or do anything to annoy them, you pair?'

Bofur directed this to Kili and Fili, and he grinned at them until he saw the hard look on both their faces.

'Ok, bit of a sore point then,' he muttered, and the rest of the dwarves stopped talking as well. Bilbo suddenly looked like he might want to stay too.

'Enough talking, let's go,' said Thorin, and the company silently made their way towards a path out of Rivendell.

Bilbo kept glancing behind him, not sure if he was ever going to see Rivendell, the elves or the girls again.

'Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up,' shouted Thorin, and the hobbit hurried forward.

'Hey! Wait for us!'

Bilbo glanced behind him again, this time coming to a complete stop, causing Dori to walk right into him.

'Do you want Thorin to have a fit or something, lad?! Keep moving!' he muttered.

'I thought I heard something, that's all,' the hobbit replied, and he started walking again.

Bilbo only took a couple more steps when he heard it again, and this time Fili and Kili stopped as well.

'We're coming with you!'

'Wait for us!'

The voices got louder and louder until the rest of the dwarves were also standing still.

'ARE YOU ALL DEAF OR SOMETHING?! OR ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE US RUN THE WHOLE WAY TO THE DRAGON TRYING TO CATCH YOU?!'

Half-running, half-wheezing, Sarah and Katy suddenly appeared from around the corner.

The dwarves and Bilbo started cheering, and even Thorin had a slight smile on his face.

'If you are accompanying us any further, then I suggest you keep up and stop causing any further delays,' he barked at the girls.

'And it's lovely to see you, too, Thorin!' Sarah chimed.

The company started moving again, and Rivendell grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

'So what made you decide to join us, then,' Kili smirked at Sarah.

'Let's just say I thought about what I really wanted, and I fancied some more of it. If you get what I mean,' she replied innocently.

The dwarf went bright red, showing Sarah that he knew exactly what she meant.

'So are you going to braid my friend's hair, then, Kili?' Katy asked, 'Cos where we're from, a girl kissing you means that she wants you to start, what's the word, courting her.'

'Errrmmm…'

'I think for the first time in his life, my brother is lost for words,' Fili said, appearing next to Katy.

She smiled at him, saying nothing.

'I'm glad you decided to come with us,' he said to her quietly.

'Me, too,' Katy replied, and she found herself blushing slightly.

'And I'll do my best to try and keep you safe,' Fili said.

She rolled her eyes.

'Hey, I'm not some damsel in distress, you know. I can take care of myself,'

Fili grinned.

'I know. I just want to make sure that you don't hurt any of us with that sword while you're doing it!'

'Well I guess you better start teaching me how to use it, then!' Katy replied.

Kili snorted.

'If you're anything like Sarah, then you'll need all the practice you can get,'

'Hey!' Sarah yelled, 'You said I wasn't that bad.'

'Of course I would say that, you had a sword in your hand!' he said cheekily, causing all four of them to laugh.

'KILI! FILI! Will you quit trying to impress those females and get a move on. I told you to keep an eye on them so they didn't get into trouble, not so that they could lead you astray. Keep up!' bellowed Thorin from the front of the group.

'Sorry, uncle!' they both said in unison.

'Come on,' whispered Fili to Katy while grabbing her hand, 'I don't want to almost lose you again.'

Katy and Sarah smiled to each other, and with one final glance behind them, they strode on to keep up with the dwarves and the hobbit. For the first time since they turned up in Middle Earth, they actually felt that they belonged somewhere, and just a little less lost.


	9. Chapter 9

As the company continued walking, the air started to get cooler the further they were from Rivendell. Sarah and Katy were glad of the extra layers that they found in their packs, and they now understood why the dwarves wore such heavy clothing. The grassy plains that they covered soon changed to hard, dry rock, and before long mountains rose up in front of them. The Misty Mountains, the dwarves told them.

The paths on the mountains were narrow and dangerous, and Sarah and Katy soon stopped joking around and flirting with the young dwarves. They needed all their attention focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and not falling down the sheer drop that was on one side.

'I did not sign up for rock climbing!' shouted Sarah, as she pressed herself as close as possible to the rock cliff.

'And here was me thinking you preferred this to staying with the elves,' replied Kili.

'I'm just not great with heights, that's all,' muttered Sarah.

Out of nowhere, a thunderstorm hit, and soon the whole company was drenched, and their progress slowed as thunder, rain and lightening surrounded them. The storm made the path even more dangerous, and parts of it started to crumble.

Bilbo came close to falling a couple of times, and it became clear that they could not continue until the storm passed.

'We must find shelter!' yelled Thorin.

Before anyone could begin to think about being warm and dry, a massive boulder came hurtling from the angry sky, hitting the mountain above them and causing rocks to fall down on them. Everyone pressed themselves against the rock, as another boulder came shooting towards them.

'Why is it raining rocks?!' cried Katy, but not even Fili, who was right next to her, could hear her.

'This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle! Look!' Balin shouted, and he pointed to the sky.

Katy and Sarah couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. It was as if one of the nearby mountains was, well, _alive._

'Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants, Stone Giants!' exclaimed Bofur.

'What, the mountain is alive?! How is that even possible?!' screamed Sarah, and she covered her face from the rain.

'You're only starting to ask that now?!' shrieked Katy.

Another Stone Giant rose up from the mountain, and started hurling boulders at the other. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet started to shake and crack.

'Hold on!' cried Thorin, and the dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah held on to the rock as tightly as possible. Fili had his arm firmly around Katy, pressing her against the rock, and she would have complained that she was struggling to breathe if she didn't know it was keeping her from falling.

Sarah was next to Katy, gripping her hand tightly, as she herself was being held against the rock by Kili. There was an almighty crack, and the ground suddenly split between the two girls, causing the group to divide.

'SARAH!'

'FILI!

'Kili, grab my hand!'

'Katy, hold on!'

A third Stone Giant appeared out of nowhere, and tossed a boulder, causing one of the other Stone Giants to collapse into the rock, smashing to pieces, and obscuring one half of the company from view.

Sarah stared in disbelief to where Katy stood moments ago. She and half a dozen dwarves were nowhere to be seen.

'No, no, this can't be happening, KATY!'

She yelled until she felt like there was no more air in her lungs, and Kili gripped her tightly as he looked for his brother. The dwarves rushed over to where it looked like the others had been crushed, and they were relieved to find that they were all safe. Shaken, a little bruised, but safe.

'We're all right! We're alive!' shouted Balin, and they were all helped to their feet.

'Katy!' Sarah sobbed, as she pulled her friend into a hug, 'You scared the hell out of me there.'

Katy still looked like she was struggling to breathe, but nodded.

'I know, I scared the hell out of me too. But I'm ok, I think,'

She turned to Fili, who was looking shaken himself, but was still holding onto Katy.

'I think you can let go now,' she smiled weakly.

'Never,' he replied, as Kili pulled him into a hug.

Before Katy could say anything else, Bofur realised Bilbo was nowhere to be seen.

'Where's the hobbit?' he shouted.

'There!' Ori cried, and pointed to the edge of cliff where Bilbo was hanging.

Quickly, Ori tried to grab the hobbit's arm, but the hobbit started to slip further down the rock as the dwarves nearest to him scrambled to pull him up. Thorin jumped down onto the rock face, and helped boost him up so he could be dragged to safety. The girls watched in horror as Thorin himself almost fell, only to be caught by Dwalin and heaved back onto the path.

'I thought we'd lost our burglar,' said Dwalin, visibly relieved.

Thorin turned to Bilbo.

'He's been lost ever since he left home. He should never have come. He has no place amongst us,' he said, and before Bilbo could say anything in his defence Thorin went ahead with Dwalin to find a cave.

Katy and Sarah went up to the hobbit.

'Are you ok, Bilbo?' asked Katy, 'I wouldn't worry too much about what Thorin said. You've proved with the trolls that you're a valuable part of this team, and if anything Sarah and I are more lost than you.'

Bilbo tried to give the girls a smile.

'Thank you, at least I know you are both on my side,'

'Of course we are!' beamed Sarah, as they followed the dwarves into a cave.

As Dwalin searched the cave for any signs of life, the rest of dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah tried to make themselves comfortable. Thorin forbid them to light a fire, and told them all to get some sleep, as they would be moving again at first light.

Fili was still sticking close to Katy, and kept looking at her as if to check she was ok. Catching him doing it for the umpteenth time, she gave him a small smile.

'I'm fine, really. Just a bit shaken. You don't have to keep watching me like that,'

The dwarf seemed a bit put out.

'I know. I'm just worried that after what happened you might decide that you made the wrong decision, coming with us,'

Katy moved her hand to cup his face, and looked right into his eyes.

'Not a chance. Sarah and I are sticking with you dwarves whether you like it or not,'

He smiled brightly at her, then suddenly frowned, and moved some hair away from her face.

'You're bleeding. You must have cut yourself on the rocks,'

Fili gently dabbed the cut with the sleeve of his shirt until most of the blood had vanished.

'I guess you don't have any plasters in your packs, do you,' Katy joked, and giggled at Fili's confused face.

'Never mind. It doesn't hurt too much anyway,' she said.

After Fili checked that the cut was no longer bleeding, he and Katy found a spot on the ground close to where Sarah and Kili were lying. Sarah was already fast asleep (_that girl could sleep anywhere,_ she thought) and Kili was lying close to her, his hands in her hair. Katy was about to ask Fili what his brother was doing when she realised that he was braiding a piece of her hair.

_Wow. That is just too cute, _she thought. Smiling to herself, she tried to make herself comfy between Fili and the cave wall. The dwarf watched her wriggle about a bit, before motioning for her to lie against his chest. After hesitating a moment, Katy leant against him, and he moved his arms around her.

'Is that better?' Fili whispered.

'Yeah, thanks,' she replied, and she could feel her face going slightly red when she felt Fili's hand move through her hair.

_Is he going to start braiding my hair?! _She thought.

He didn't, though, and Katy was more than a little disappointed, she realised.

As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard Bilbo and Bofur talking quietly, but she was far too comfortable to see if she was correct.

Sarah stirred in her sleep, and she opened her eyes, hearing voices nearby. She hadn't realised how close she was to Kili when she fell asleep, and as she moved her head a fraction to look at him, she noticed a small braid in her hair. Sarah ran her fingers through it, smiling to herself, and was about to close her eyes again when she realised that Kili had woken up as well.

He smiled at her shyly.

'I guess that you are responsible for this,' she said, gesturing to her hair.

He nodded.

'I hope it wasn't inappropriate of me,' the dwarf said.

Sarah grinned at him.

'Not in the slightest,' she replied, leaning in to kiss him.

Before she could reach his lips, she heard Thorin shout for everyone to wake up, and suddenly the cave collapsed beneath them.

The dwarves, Katy, Sarah and Bilbo all fell through the cave, and slid down a chute through dark and cold tunnels, until they all came tumbling out into a giant wooden cage.

Instead of meeting Kili's lips, Sarah found herself face to face with Thorin's back. _Oh well, I guess it could have been worse_, she thought, picking herself up off the ground and checking to see if Katy was alright. Her friend was close by, being helped up by Fili. _That dwarf sticks to her like a puppy, _she thought.

The whole company was disorientated, but before any of them could figure out where they were, large, ugly creatures descended on them, taking their weapons and dragging them along a path. None of the company went without a fight.

'Hey, get your hands off me!'

'Oi, Stop that!'

'Where are you taking us?!'

The creatures didn't respond, and only snarled at them as the company were taken through tunnels and over bridges to a massive cave, where hundreds more of the creatures crowded round the group.

'What the hell are these creatures?' Katy muttered to no one in particular.

'Goblins!' answers Dori, causing Katy to glance fearfully at Sarah. _Didn't that old woman at the fair mention goblins? Guess she was right about that as well as about the wizards, _she thought.

Suddenly a goblin far larger and uglier than the rest approached the company, and both girls were visibly repulsed.

'What is that hanging from his chin?!' gagged Sarah.

The goblin gazed over at the creatures in front of him.

'Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom? Spies? Thieves? Assassins?'

A smaller goblin gave a wicked grin.

'Dwarves, Your Malevolence. We found them on the front porch,'

The Goblin King ordered for the prisoners to be searched, and the goblins quickly rummaged through their clothing, tossing away anything that they found. Katy and Sarah crept closer to Kili and Fili, and tried not to make any eye contact with the creatures.

'What are you doing in these parts? Speak!' the Goblin King shouted, but none of the dwarves answered.

This didn't please him in the slightest, and his eyes suddenly fell on Katy and Sarah.

'Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! And start with those two,' he said, gesturing to the girls.

Kili, Fili, and the other dwarves closest to the girls inched nearer to the girls. Both Katy and Sarah were touched by their reaction, but neither of them thought it would make much difference, until Thorin stepped forward.

'Wait,' the dwarf said loudly.

The Goblin King is silent for a second, scrutinising the dwarf.

'Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain,' he exclaimed, and gave an exaggerated bow to the dwarf.

'Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really,' the Goblin King continued. _Ouch, that's harsh, _thought Katy, but the large goblin wasn't finished.

'I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg.'

The whole company was stunned at those words, and even Katy and Sarah understood who the goblin was referring to, such was the impact of Balin's story.

'Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago,' said Thorin, surprise and disbelief written across his face.

'So you think his defiling days are done, do you?' replied the Goblin King, laughing, and he ordered a small goblin to inform the Pale Orc that he had Thorin in his possession.

Katy turned to Fili.

'What does he mean, is the Pale Orc not dead? Is he going to come after us?' she whispered to him.

The dwarf could only shake his head slightly, not quite believing it to be true.

As the whole company tried to make sense of this information, dozens of goblins carried instruments of torture over to the Goblin King, who suddenly seemed to be enjoying himself.

'Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung! You'll be beaten and battered, from racks you'll be hung! You will lie down here and never be found, down in the deep of Goblin-town!' he sung, as some of the goblins examined the company's weapons that lay on the ground.

'I bet you wish you stayed with the elves now,' muttered Kili to Sarah.

'Nope. We're in this together,' she replied bravely, and she grasped his hand firmly as she tried to give a reassuring smile to Katy, who looked like she would faint if Fili wasn't holding onto her so tightly.

One of the goblins picked up Thorin's sword, and gasped in horror. He threw down the sword so the rest of the goblins could see it, and the Goblin King was no longer so jovial.

'I know that sword! It is the Goblin-Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks!'

He pointed to the company, and shouted to the other goblins.

'Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!'

A number of goblins held Thorin down, and just as one of them was about to behead the dwarf, there was a massive explosion of bright light, and Gandalf stood amongst the goblins, his staff and sword held high.

'Take up arms! Fight! Fight!' he shouted, and the dwarves immediately sprang into action. Picking up their weapons, they start hacking and tearing at the goblins, and a couple of minutes have passed before Katy and Sarah realise the wizard meant them as well. Grabbing their swords, they glanced at each other fearfully before following the dwarves and Gandalf along a pathway. It is only then that the girls realise that they haven't seen Bilbo, but before they can give it much more thought they are forced to start using their swords to fight their way through a pack of goblins.

As Gandalf led them over suspended passageways, several goblins approached them from the front. Dwalin quickly cut a large plank of wood from the side of the path, and used it as a massive spear to clear the way ahead. But just as one group of goblins are defeated, more come to replace them. A goblin appeared at Katy's right, and before she could even think what she was doing, she forced her sword into its stomach, causing it to fall over and its insides to pour out. _I think I'm going to be sick_, she thought, as she pulled her sword from the goblin and hurried after the dwarves. She saw that Sarah was going though the same emotions, fighting for her life without a moments thought. Her friend was doing her best to stick close to Kili, who was firing arrows at the goblins.

The paths seemed endless, and the company continued to kill the goblins in their way. At one point the dwarves and the girls had to jump across a gap in a suspended path using ropes, and Gandalf used his staff to cause rocks to fall down and sweep goblins out of the way. Katy and Sarah were just starting to think that a way out of the tunnels must be getting nearer, when the Goblin King suddenly appeared on the bridge in front of them.

'You thought you could escape me?' he cried, as he swung his mace at Gandalf.

'What are you going to do now, wizard?'

Gandalf responded by striking the goblin in the eye, and then slicing his belly.

'That'll do it,' the Goblin King said, and Gandalf aimed his sword at his neck, killing him.

The weight of the goblin on the bridge caused it to shake, and the piece that the company were standing on broke off and slid down into the cavern. The dwarves, Katy, Sarah and Gandalf all clung on for dear life, until suddenly the piece hit the bottom and came to a stop.

'Well, that could have been worse,' said Bofur, but before any of the company could pick themselves up, the dead Goblin King landed on the wreckage, and squashed them all further.

'You've got to be joking!' shouted Dwalin, as the rest of the dwarves cry out in pain.

Sarah found herself underneath Bombur, and was quickly running out of breadth until he rolled off of her, smiling apologetically.

She turned to Katy.

'I can't believe we actually survived that!' she said, while Katy still looked like she was going to throw up.

Before she could think about doing that, Kili shouted to the rest of the group, pointing upwards.

'Gandalf! More goblins!'

'Only one thing will save us, daylight! Come on! Run!' the wizard exclaimed, and he led them through another tunnel. Soon, daylight could be seen ahead, and in minutes the company burst out of the cave and down the mountain.

As Gandalf starting counting the members of the company, Katy promptly threw up the entire contents of her stomach into a nearby bush. Sarah quickly went over to her and held back her hair.

'You ok, there?' she said, rubbing her friend's back.

Katy nodded, before hurling again.

Fili came over to them both, and Sarah smiled reassuringly at him.

'Just a little post-goblin sickness, I wouldn't worry too much about it. In fact, she'll probably be mortified that you've seen her in this state.'

The dwarf still looked a little concerned, and it was only when Katy herself gave an encouraging smile that he visibly relaxed.

'I'll be fine. Just a little delicate after my first goblin killing,' she said to Fili.

'Where's Bilbo? Where is our hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!' Gandalf said loudly, panic in his voice.

All the dwarves looked from one to the other, but no one knew where Bilbo was. Thorin then spoke up.

'I'll tell you what happened. Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone.'

Both Katy and Sarah's hearts sank. _He surely wouldn't just leave, would he? _They both thought.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Bilbo appeared in front of them.

'No, he isn't,' he said purposely.

'Bilbo!' cried the girls, as the company looked at him in shock.

'We'd given up on you!' said Kili

'How on earth did you get past the goblins?' asked Fili.

There was an awkward silence, as if Bilbo was deciding what to say, but in the end he said nothing, and just gave a nervous laugh.

'Well, what does it matter? He's back!' Gandalf said, but Thorin didn't look convinced, and pressed the hobbit on why he came back.

'Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have,' replied Bilbo, 'And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my arm chair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can,'

The dwarves didn't say anything after Bilbo finished talking, and Sarah had a lump in her throat, suddenly thinking of her own home and how much she missed it. She turned to Katy, knowing that she too would be thinking of home, and was about to say something reassuring to her when her friend threw up again.

'Sorry…' Katy muttered, embarrassed as everyone looked to her.

Her embarrassment was short-lived, as howling soon filled the air, getting louder, and the dwarves looked around frantically.

'Out of the frying pan…' Thorin said.

'…and into the fire! RUN!' finished Gandalf, and the whole company started running down the mountain as fast as they could. Kili and Fili quickly grabbed Sarah and Katy's hands, not wanting to let them fall behind.

As the howling continued to get louder, wargs suddenly came into view, and started charging at the company.

'Up into the trees, all of you! Come on, climb!' shouted Gandalf, and no one needed to be told twice.

'I AM REALLY NOT GOOD WITH HEIGHTS!' wailed Sarah, as she scrambled up into a tree after Kili. He reached out his hand and pulled her up onto a large branch, and she clung onto it for dear life, trying not to look down.

Katy was on the next branch up with Fili, looking less pale but no less terrified.

Suddenly a large warg comes into view, and sitting astride it was Azog, the Pale Orc.

'Azog?! It cannot be!' exclaimed Thorin, and his face is stricken with pain and grief. This was the creature who killed his father.

For a moment nothing happened, until Azog shouted a command at the other wargs and orcs, and they started attacking the trees that held the dwarves, Gandalf and the girls. The creatures tried to climb the trees, and while they weren't able to gain any height, their efforts caused the trees to sway and lean wildly. As the trees started to become uprooted, the company jumped from one tree to another, until all 17 of them are on one tree, on the very edge of a cliff.

'Don't look down, just don't look down,' Sarah started to tell herself, but the swaying branches and frantic shouts from the dwarves did little to calm her down.

A flaming pinecone dropped to the ground, hitting a warg, and after a moment's confusion, the company saw that it came from Gandalf. The wizard started throwing pinecones to the dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah, and they are all soon attacking the wargs, who start to retreat. Just as they start to cheer, the tree's roots give way, and it comes precariously close to falling off the cliff. Ori and Nori lose their grip on the branches, and are clinging onto one another.

'Hold on, Ori!

'Mister Gandalf!'

The wizard quickly held out his staff, just in time for Dori to grab both it and Ori as the branch holding them snapped. It was clear to everyone that the tree wasn't going to hold them all for much longer, and Thorin decided that he wasn't going to wait anymore. Pulling himself up from the branch he was clinging to, he started to march down the trunk towards Azog, sword held aloft.

'What the hell is he doing?!' said Katy, and she glances at Fili to see the tears in his eyes as he watched his uncle fight the Pale Orc.

Thorin tried to swing his sword at his enemy, but Azog hit him full force with his mace, smashing his face.

The dwarves cried out in horror, as the white warg picked up Thorin in his jaws. The dwarf managed to hit the warg with his sword, which only resulted in it tossing Thorin onto the ground, and the dwarf looked to be unconscious.

Bilbo, of all people, jumped out of the tree, and rushed over to where an orc was approaching Thorin, ready for the kill. The hobbit threw himself at the orc, and somehow managed to stab it. Looking wildly around him, Bilbo stood in front of Thorin, guarding him from any further attacks.

With a cry, Dwalin, Kili and Fili charged from the tree towards Azog and the orcs, and started fighting them. Both Katy and Sarah could feel the tears roll down their faces as they looked on helplessly with the other dwarves. The tree was still dangerously close to falling over the edge of the cliff, and just as Dori lost his grip on Gandalf's staff, an eagle swooped in from nowhere and caught both him and Ori. Soon, several more eagles fly towards the tree, and pick up the other dwarves.

Katy and Sarah look on in horror as an eagle flew in their direction, and they both scream loudly as they are picked up in its talons and tossed on its back. As it flew off, the girls could still see Kili and Fili fighting the orcs below.

'Where is it taking us?! We can't just leave them there!' yelled Katy.

'I think they've got the others as well,' muttered Sarah, as she tried not to look down at the ground far below. It was her turn to look like she was going to throw up.

After what felt like a lifetime, the eagle circled a massive rock structure, and gently placed Katy and Sarah on the grass. Sarah immediately started throwing up, and Katy looked on in astonishment as more eagles came into view and deposited the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf next to her.

The wizard quickly went over to Thorin, who still looked to be unconscious, and started to mutter some words while touching his face.

The company watch on in silence, until Thorin's eyes start to flutter and he gasped for air.

'Oh thank God,' muttered Katy.

'The Halfling?' said Thorin, weakly.

Gandalf gestured to where Bilbo stood.

'It's all right, Bilbo is here. He's quite safe.'

Thorin makes to stand up, and is helped onto his feet by Dwalin and Kili.

'You! What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed! Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the wild and that you had no place amongst us?' he aimed at the hobbit.

Bilbo naturally looked quite terrified as Thorin approached him.

"I've never been so wrong in all my life!' finished Thorin and he hugged Bilbo.

Sarah lets out a cheer, and soon Katy and the rest of the dwarves join in.

'You need me to hold your hair back?' Katy asked her friend, smiling.

'I think I'm ok, you know what I'm like with heights,' she grinned back, and she was soon pulled into a hug by Kili.

He held her face and looked right into her eyes.

'Still sticking with us?' he asked.

She nodded.

'Yeah. Though you might have to get used to me throwing up every now and again. Same goes for Katy,'

Sarah turned to her friend, who was being hugged tightly by Fili.

'I'd watch her, she might throw up on you,' she joked.

As the eagles flew away, the company looked out into the distance where a single mountain rose up.

'Erebor – the lonely mountain. The last of the great dwarf kingdoms,' said Gandalf.

'Our home,' Thorin said, pride in his voice, and the girls noticed how Kili and Fili beamed at his words.

A bird flew by, headed for the mountain.

'Look! The birds are returning to the mountain!' shouted Oin.

'It's a good omen,' said Thorin, and some of the other dwarves nodded.

'You're right,' Bilbo said, 'I do believe the worst is behind us,'

'Well thank god for that,' said Sarah loudly, as Kili pulled her in for another hug, laughing along with the rest of the dwarves.


	10. Chapter 10

The company spent the rest of the night camped on the rock where the eagles had left them. They were exhausted, and even though Gandalf would have rather that they made their way down into the forest below, he could see that they desperately needed some rest.

'We will move again at first light, but for now you can sleep. I'll keep watch,' and no sooner had the wizard said those words than snores could be heard from most of the dwarves.

Thorin looked a little unsettled at not leaving one dwarf on watch, but Gandalf gave him a reassuring smile, and soon he too was asleep. Katy and Sarah once again found themselves lying close to Kili and Fili – it was a habit both they and the two young dwarves were no longer surprised at, and soon they too drifted off. Bilbo was the last one awake, and Gandalf noticed how he kept checking the contents of his pocket before allowing himself to go to sleep.

It seemed as if just minutes had passed by for Katy and Sarah before Gandalf was rousing them awake.

'Just five more minutes, mum, please…' muttered Sarah, pressing herself into Kili's side. It was only when Kili got up himself that Sarah reluctantly sat up.

'Well a great pillow you turned out to be,' she grumbled, as the dwarf pulled her onto her feet.

He beamed at her.

'I believe you were the one wrapping your arms around me this time,' he said, making her blush.

She looked over at Katy, hoping to move the embarrassment onto her, and she found her friend pulling her hands through her hair.

'Bedhead?' Sarah laughed.

'I think I got some goblin in my hair,' Katy replied, pulling a face.

Sarah wrinkled her nose.

'Lovely. The sooner we get you a shower and Fili to put some braids in your hair the better!' she said loudly.

The dwarf in question glanced over and gave a shy smile to Katy.

'See,' Sarah hissed, 'he so wants to braid your hair! Then we'll be matching!'

She twirled her finger around her own braid, grinning.

'Please just drop it,' Katy sighed, and gave her friend a look that told her she was serious.

'I'm sorry, are you ok?' Sarah said softly.

Katy forced a smile onto her face.

'Yeah. Just all that talk of home last night got to me a bit, and for the first time since we got here I dreamt of our home. It wasn't anything big, just mum and dad bickering in front of the telly. But it was as if I was back there, and it felt so safe,' she explained, and Sarah gave her a hug.

'And then I woke up next to Fili and I realised that maybe I had a reason for wanting to stay here a bit longer. And that made me feel a bit guilty,' she finished.

'Ah, if only they weren't so sweet and cute, it would make our lives so much simpler! Tell you what, we'll try and have a chat with Gandalf at some point, see where he is in the whole trying to get us home thing,' said Sarah, trying to cheer her friend up.

Katy nodded and smiled, determined not to let her bad mood last.

She didn't have much longer to think about home, as the wizard soon led the company down from the rock. It was as if large steps had been cut into the sides, and the whole company had to jump down onto the level below.

'Did someone make these steps?!' asked Sarah, as she accidently landed on Dori.

'I think that is a question for later, my dear,' Gandalf smiled, as Sarah apologised to the dwarf.

After what seemed like hours of climbing, the company finally reached the bottom, and were thankful when they could sit in the shade of the trees. As they rested, a few of them thought they heard the rush of water, and sure enough, a river ran close to the trees.

'Now I think we can spare a few minutes while we clean ourselves up,' Gandalf said, and the girls didn't need to be told twice.

They rushed off towards the stream, while the wizard shouted at them not to stray too far. Kili and Fili made to follow them, but Balin held them back.

'Give them a moment of privacy, laddies. Why don't we all pick a spot a wee bit away from them? Gandalf will make sure they don't fall into trouble.'

The young dwarves hesitated a moment, before following the other dwarves and Bilbo to the river.

When Katy and Sarah reached the edge of the water, they flung off their clothes and jumped in wearing just their underwear. Katy dunked her head under the water straight away, and let out a yelp at the coolness of the water.

'Oh my god that feels fantastic!' she said, grinning at Sarah, as she too dipped her head under the water.

'Someone has cheered up!'

Katy laughed.

'It's amazing what some clean water can do for you!'

She pointed at her friend's hair.

'Careful, that braid will come out. That might be the equivalent of dumping someone here,' said Katy.

Sarah held the braid in her hand.

'And we wouldn't want him to think that!' she grinned.

She saw her friend look at the braid for a moment longer.

'You so want one too,' Sarah said, and Katy turned away from her, smiling.

'Well if you keep dropping enough hints then I might not have to wait much longer!'

Sarah was silent for a moment.

'He does like you, you know. You can see it in the way he watches you, it's like he's afraid you'll run off or something,' she said eventually.

Katy shrugged, but said nothing.

'Come on, you know I'm right. He's just a bit shyer than his brother. A bit more reserved,' her friend said.

'Ah, I don't even know why I care so much! It's crazy!' Katy said, and Sarah laughed.

'You know what it's like? Princes William and Harry. The younger one gets to be a bit more carefree, a bit less pressure on his shoulders. No one really cares who he dates. But Prince William? Well he's the heir to the throne, he's got to make sure he's dating the right girl, so that daddy, or in this case uncle, approves!' she said.

'Are you saying I'm not as good as Kate Middleton?!' Katy said, splashing water in Sarah's face.

'Nooo, I wouldn't dare! I'm just saying he can't jump into these things,' she replied, laughing.

'Who's Kate Middleton?'

The girls suddenly stopped laughing, and turned around to see Kili and Fili standing on the bank of the river.

'Ehh, just a friend of ours from back home,' Sarah said quickly.

The young dwarves nodded, and the girls couldn't help but notice that they were both still soaking wet from their own baths in the river. Fully dressed, but soaking wet. _Damn those hot dwarves_, they both thought.

'So what do you pair of Mr Darcy's want, then?' Sarah asked, and she and Katy swam over to the bank, careful to keep only their heads above the water.

'Gandalf wanted to know if you were almost finished washing,' said Kili.

'He's wanting us to start moving again,' added Fili.

'And what did you call us?' said Kili, clearly confused.

Katy and Sarah grinned at each other.

'Nothing! Could you turn around so we can put on our clothes?' Katy said sweetly.

'Oh! Of course!' both dwarves chimed, and they hurriedly spun around, eyes on the ground.

Giggling, the two girls climbed out of the river and squeezed the water out of their hair, before pulling on their clothes.

'Decent!' shouted Sarah, and the dwarves peered back at the girls.

'Actually, could you redo my braid? It's started to fall out with all the goblins and orcs chasing us,' said Sarah to Kili, who nodded.

Smiling, the dwarf took the piece of hair, and carefully re-braided it.

Katy started slowly walking back in the direction of the rest of the company with Fili.

'Did you get all the goblin out your hair?' he asked her.

She laughed.

'Yeah, I think so. I really needed that wash.'

Fili smiled at her, and there was a moment when Katy was convinced that he was about to ask if he could braid her hair. But before either of them had a chance to say anything, the silence was broken by Ori.

'Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting, but Mr Gandalf is wondering what is keeping you?' he said politely.

Katy sighed.

'Sorry, Ori, it took a bit longer getting the goblin out of my hair than I expected,' she said, and both she and Fili followed Ori back to the group, with Sarah and Kili close behind them. Kili had rebraided her friend's hair, and she even spotted them holding hands, only letting go once they had rejoined the rest of the company. _Those two just get cuter and cuter,_ Katy thought.

'Ah, good, now that we've all had a chance to clean up a bit, I think it's high time that we were on out way,' Gandalf said.

The wizard went on to explain that the eagles had taken them from their planned route, and that they would have to go through Mirkwood Forest to get back on track. Sarah was about to ask Kili what Mirkwood Forest was like, but from the look on his and the rest of the dwarves faces, the question probably wasn't going to have an answer that she would like. _Maybe leave that for a bit later,_ she thought. What she heard Gandalf say next didn't make her feel any better.

'I am needed elsewhere, so I will be leaving your company shortly,' he said, and Katy, Sarah and Bilbo couldn't stop themselves from groaning out loud.

'Now, then! I always meant to see you all safe over the mountains, and now by good management and good luck I have done it. But this is not my adventure,' the wizard said, as Bilbo looked like he might cry. 'I may look in on it again before it is all over, but in the meanwhile I have some other pressing business to attend to,'

The two girls must have looked upset as well, as Gandalf turned to them with a smile.

'Don't worry, my dears, I haven't forgotten my promise to you. I intend to leave you in a day or two, but I will speak to you fully before then, but first things first, I will take you to Beorn.'

There was a moment's silence after the wizard finished talking, until Sarah pipped up.

'Are we meant to know who that is? Is he another wizard?' she asked.

Gandalf gave a little chuckle.

'No, Beorn is not a wizard, but he is a very great person. He can get very angry, though he is very kind if humoured. Beorn is a skin-changer,' he explained.

'A skin what now?' asked Katy, still puzzled.

'Sometimes he is a large man, and at other times he is a huge black bear,' Gandalf replied.

Katy and Sarah were pleased to see that the wizard's explanation was just as surprising to the dwarves and hobbit as it was to them.

'So he can turn into a bear?' Bilbo clarified.

Gandalf nodded.

'Of course he does, why am I not surprised!' Sarah muttered to Katy.

'But remember what I said, he can become angry when provoked, so treat him with respect,'

'This place just gets weirder and weirder,' said Sarah, turning to Katy, who nodded in agreement.

Gandalf started to lead the company through the trees, and he told them it wouldn't be long until they came to Beorn's home. Even though they were all still wet from bathing in the river, the sun was slowing drying them, and after the last couple of days, it was a pleasant walk. Before long, they started to see beehives in the trees and bees buzzing about, and Gandalf soon halted the group.

'We're approaching Beorn's home. Now, I think it would be best if we approached him in small numbers, so I will go ahead with Bilbo, and you will follow me in pairs a few minutes apart. We don't want to startle him,'

The girls became a little apprehensive at the wizard's words.

'He's not going to have a problem, with us being here, is he?' asked Sarah.

Gandalf shook his head.

'No, but I would rather not greet him as one large group. Let him get used to us a couple at a time, eh?' he said, smiling.

The wizard walked off with Bilbo in tow, and after a minute or two Dori and Ori started after them. The dwarves continued this way until just Kili, Fili and Bombur were left with the girls.

'Come on, Katy, I think it's our turn,' said Sarah, grabbing her friend's wrist.

Katy looked surprised, and started to point at Fili as Sarah dragged her in the direction of Beorn's house.

'I thought we would go with Kili and Fili?'

Sarah smirked.

'Beorn might as well get used to us together. Plus, we don't want to give those hot dwarves the idea that we rely on them for everything.'

'Good point. I'm still a bit scared of what Beorn will be like though,' Katy replied.

'Oh god, yeah, me too!' Sarah said, grinning at her.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, and before long came across a huge wooden building. The girls saw Gandalf, Bilbo and the dwarves standing in front of it, next to a large, dark haired man.

'And that must be Beorn,' whispered Katy.

The man himself turned to look at the girls, and they slowed down to a stop near him.

'Ah, let me introduce Sarah and Katy, two young women who are part of this company,' said Gandalf, and Beorn nodded at smile.

Sarah and Katy smiled shyly at him, and waved. They weren't sure if they should say anything, but before they did, KIli and Fili approached, and were introduced by Gandalf. Bombur followed shortly after them, and Beorn surveyed the whole company as Gandalf explained what had happened to them.

'We had rather a bad time with the goblins in the mountains.'

Beorn looked concerned.

'Goblins are such nasty creatures, you did well to escape. Come now, I will see that you are well fed and rested before you continue on your journey tomorrow,' replied Beorn.

The dwarves, Bilbo and the girls murmured their thanks, before following Gandalf and Beorn into his home. The place was huge. In the centre of the living area was a long wooden table, and it was being set for dinner by ponies and dogs. Before she could stop herself, Sarah burst out laughing.

'That is so cool! Ok, of all the things I have seen in Middle Earth, that is by far the best!' she exclaimed, before turning quickly to Kili. 'Apart from you, of course, Kili!'

The dwarf grinned at her.

Beorn looked a bit startled at her outburst, and suddenly Sarah remembered what Gandalf said about him getting very angry. _Hope he's not too sensitive about his ponies,_ she thought.

As it turned out, he wasn't.

'I'm glad you find my lodgings to your satisfaction, my dear! Come now, let's have something to eat!' Beorn said loudly.

As the dwarves, Bilbo, and the girls slowly shuffled around the table, Boern's animals began bringing in plates laden with food, and the whole company was soon reminded of how hungry they all were.

Gandalf told their host some more of their run in with the goblins ('A very good tale! The best I have heard for a long while!' according to Beorn), and the skin-changer then started to talk about Mirkwood Forest.

Sarah and Katy only had to hear the words 'dark and dangerous' leave his mouth when they decided that they had heard enough, and tried to start a new conversation topic with some of the dwarves.

'Have you ever been to Mirkwood Forest?' Katy asked Fili, who was, as always, sitting right next to her.

The dwarf shook his head.

'We haven't really been very far from the Blue Mountains, where Thorin settled our people after Erebor was lost. Our mother wasn't exactly thrilled at us joining our uncle on the quest, but luckily Thorin saw that we could be of use,' he said, and both he and Kili looked quite proud.

'Yep, I'd agree that you've had some uses!' said Sarah cheekily, and Kili blushed slightly.

'So I'm guessing you're as terrified as Mirkwood as we are then?' asked Katy.

'Well, I wouldn't say that I'm particurly looking forward to it, but we did know that this quest wouldn't be easy,' replied Fili.

'So that's a yes to being terrified,' said Katy, rolling her eyes slightly, as the dwarves around her and Fili laughed.

Once dinner ended, Beorn called on his dogs and ponies to clear the table, and the company retired to the corner of the room filled with soft chairs next to a roaring fire. The dwarves started telling their own stories, but before Sarah and Katy could get caught up in any of them, Gandalf beckoned them away.

'How are you doing, my dears?' he asked.

'We're alright, thanks. Beorn seems like a nice guy, and I think I'll sleep like a log tonight,' said Sarah, and Katy smiled in agreement.

'I'm glad. Now, I wanted to speak to you both quickly about why you have found yourselves in Middle Earth. I consulted with both Elrond and Galadrial before I left Rivendell, and we may have figured it out,' Gandalf said.

'Who's Galadrial?' asked Katy, wondering if it was another wizard.

'She's a very powerful and wise elf, and it was she who has heard of some whisperings of strangers from another world,' the wizard replied.

'Strangers? Us, does she mean us? You mean people have heard about us?' Sarah said, her head spinning.

'As I said, she is very wise. From the best of our knowledge, it would appear that you have a purpose to being here. It was no accident that you came to Middle Earth, and it is our understanding that you will return once you have fulfilled that purpose and are no longer needed here,' Gandalf said.

Both Katy and Sarah took a couple of minutes to think about what he said before speaking.

'What do you mean, no longer needed? What purpose do we have?' asked Katy.

'That, I'm afraid, we do not know. But I will continue to look for answers, that I can promise you,' said Gandalf, trying to sound reassuring.

'I just can't believe that we might actually have a reason for being here,' said Sarah.

'Please do not worry too much, my dears. You have found yourselves as part of this company, and you shall remain as so until we know more. Now, I suggest that you get some rest,' said Gandalf, and smiling at the two girls, he left the room.

Sarah turned to Katy.

'Well, who would have guessed that. We have a purpose, an actual purpose to being here!' she said, grinning.

'I know, weird or what? I mean I guess it's quite good in a way, it must mean that there's a way for us to go home? That we aren't stuck here?' said Katy, and Sarah nodded in agreement.

'I guess so. The whole thing blows my mind. I still think that I'm going to wake up one morning, and it will all be a dream,' said Sarah.

'That morning we first woke up here seems so long ago, doesn't it? I haven't really thought about how long we've been here. Or how long that we've been missing from home,' said Katy, and she suddenly started to look a bit worried.

'Hey, come on. It's ok. Let's concentrate on the positives. If there's a reason we're here, that mean's there's a way for us to leave. It's just a case of when, it would seem,' Sarah said.

Katy gave her friend a small smile.

'Yeah, you're right. It's just been a really weird day,' she said, as she noticed Kili and Fili approaching them.

'We, erm, don't mean to interrupt, but Beorn has set up beds for us all in the next room,' said Kili.

The two girls smiled at him.

'Thanks, I could really do with a bed right now!' Sarah said, and the two dwarves led them next door, where 16 camp beds had been placed. Gandalf, it appeared, would be sleeping elsewhere.

There wasn't much space between the beds, and the girls slowly climbed over to where four empty beds were tightly packed together. Once again, it came as no surprise that the dwarf brothers had kept the girls' beds right next to their own.

Most of the other dwarves were asleep, and Bilbo was once again checking his pocket carefully before settling down himself.

Kili gave Sarah a quick peck on the cheek before whispering goodnight, and the two of them were soon asleep. Fili turned to Katy.

'Sweet dreams,' he said quietly, and he reached out and squeezed her hand.

'Night,' she said, and she stifled a yawn. Katy watched as Fili closed his eyes, and she was soon listening to a chorus of snores from all around her. As tired as she was, she just couldn't get to sleep. She had far too many thoughts in her head, most of them about what Gandalf had told them earlier, and some about Fili, and try as hard as she could, she was unable to will herself to sleep.

All around her, the dwarves, Bilbo and Sarah slept, and she found herself smiling slightly when she realised she could distinguish each dwarf with the sound they made as they snored. But after a while, amusement became frustration – the snoring seemed to grow louder, and didn't help her in trying to get some sleep herself.

_This is ridiculous, _Katy thought, as she pulled herself up off the camp bed. She stood for a moment, her eyes finding a path between her sleeping companions. Trying not to wake any of them, she tiptoed around the camp beds and towards the door leading to the main living area. Katy was about to open the door when she heard it – a slight scratching sound. She turned around, thinking she had woken one of the dwarves. But no, they were all still asleep. _Great, first I can't sleep, and now I'm hearing things_, she thought, and she slowly opened the door. One in the hall, Katy crept along to where they had all eaten earlier. For a second she wondered if she would run into Beorn, but the large room was empty. Sighing, she made her way over to one of the large armchairs. She wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep here, but it was at least worth a shot. Curling her feet up around her and snuggling into the cushions, Katy closed her eyes. _A bit of piece and quiet, and now for some much needed sleep before those dwarves get hungry again_, she thought. She could feel herself drifting off when she heard it again. No, this time it was different. Not scratching, but, _growling?_

Keeping her eyes firming closed, she told herself to calm down. _This house is in the middle of a forest, of course there's going to be some animals near_, she told herself, trying to be reassuring. _Just as long as they are friendly and small and stay outside, _she added. She thought it was working, until after a particularly loud growl, she jumped up in the chair, eyes wide open and senses fully awake, and found herself face to face with Fili.

'What the hell are you doing?! Were you growling at me? Cos I think I get the braiding, but growling is just weird,' she hissed.

The dwarf looked just as startled as she did.

'Growling? What? No, I saw you weren't in your bed, so I wanted to see if you were ok,' Fili whispered.

Katy tried her very best not to roll her eyes. If there was ever anything Fili was great at, it was seeing if she was ok. The dwarf seemed to be doing nothing but checking up on her. Sweet of him, yes, but also a little bit tiring.

'I'm fine, really. I just couldn't sleep. Maybe its because I'm on a camp bed rather than the cold hard earth,' she joked, trying to lighten the mood. Fili didn't return her smile.

'Are you sure that's all it is? You've been a bit quiet for most of the evening,' the dwarf said.

Katy tried to give him a reassuring grin.

'Honestly, just tired. I was almost asleep until I heard that growling. Are you sure it wasn't you?'

Fili looked confused.

'I definitely didn't growl. And I don't believe you,' he said, staring at her.

After a minute of silence, Katy looked away from him.

'Fine. Ok. You're right. I've just been thinking about what Gandalf told Sarah and I. Apparently we can't go back home until we're no longer needed or something,' she explained.

Fili looked even more confused.

'What do you mean, no longer needed?'

Katy shrugged.

'That's exactly what I said. I didn't even realise we were needed. I just thought we were lost,' she said quietly.

The two of them were silent again. Fili didn't know what to say that would make the girl feel better.

'Everyone wants to feel needed, though, don't they? Maybe it's a good thing,' he said, giving her a small smile.

Katy gave a small smile back.

'Yeah I guess. But I'm kind of needed elsewhere, too,'

'Back home, you mean?' the dwarf asked.

She nodded.

'I was counting the days earlier, trying to work out how long Sarah and I have been here, and I realised that it's my mum's birthday tomorrow. And she needs me,' she explained.

Now Fili knew what to say to her even less.

'I'm sorry, I don't mean to put all this on you, you've got a quest to focus on,' she said, trying to give the dwarf a convincing smile.

Fili didn't say anything, and instead pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her.

'Don't be sorry. We'll find out what it is that needs to happen to get you home. I promise,' he whispered in her ear.

'Ok, now you are going to make me cry, being all sweet like that,' Katy said, choking up a little.

'But thank you. That means a lot. And before you ask, I'm still glad we came with you and didn't stay with the elves. It's just sometimes it hits home how far we are from, well, _home_,' she continued.

'Believe me, I know how much home can mean,' Fili replied.

The girl and the dwarf were silent for a bit, until they both realised how close they were to one another, and that Fili arms were still around Katy.

Flustered, they both stood up, not quite making eye contact.

'I should try and get some sleep now. The growling seems to have stopped,' Katy said, much to Fili's amusement.

'I'm still convinced you made that up, but yeah, you should get some sleep,' he said, as they both slowly made their way back to where the rest of their companions slept.

Katy stopped just as she reached the door, and turned to the dwarf.

'Thank you, again. You have the knack of saying just what I need to hear,' she said, giving him a shy smile.

'No problem at all,' he whispered back.

Katy continued to stand there, and Fili looked at her expectantly.

'Maybe you could, I mean, if you still want to, maybe…put a braid in my hair? It's starting to get a bit messy and a little frizzy, and it's probably only going to get worse….' She tailed off, looking at the ground.

'Of course,' Fili replied, and Katy looked up to find him beaming at her.

'Thanks,' she muttered, feeling her face grow hot. Fili grinned even more at her.

She moved towards the door and much to her embarrassment, stumbled into it. The door swung open, and before she knew it, she was on the floor.

_'_WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING LASS?' bellowed Dwalin, whose bed Katy had nearly fell on. Katy found herself being helped up by Fili, who was trying his best not to laugh.

'You didn't think to try and catch me?' she hissed at him.

'Oh no, there was no way I was getting to you in time!' he laughed, only to be smacked round the head by Dwalin.

'Oi, what was that for?!'

'Get to bed, the pair of you. We've got a big day tomorrow,' Dwalin muttered, before closing his eyes again and almost immediately starting to snore loudly.

'How does he do that?!' Katy asked.

Fili just shook his head, still giggling.

The two of them carefully made their way over to their camp beds, not wanting to wake any other dwarves up. But it would seem that they already had.

'What were you two up to at this hour for?' whispered Kili as they passed by his camp bed. He was wearing the biggest of grins.

Katy rolled her eyes.

'I couldn't sleep and Fili was, well, being Fili and seeing if I was alright,' she explained.

'Ahh, he's good like that, isn't he!' Kili said, grinning at his brother. Now it was his turn to get a smack round the head.

'Leave it, brother. And go back to sleep,' Fili hissed at him.

Shrugging his shoulders at them, Kili shifted around in his camp bed and was soon snoring away.

Climbing quietly into their own beds, Katy turned to Fili.

'Thanks, again. And, erm, goodnight?' she whispered to the dwarf.

'Goodnight,' he whispered back.

She wasn't sure if it was her chat with Fili, or Dwalin reminding them that they had a big day tomorrow, but Katy found herself drifting off to sleep not long after her head hit the pillow. Soon she was fast asleep, and completely unaware of the dwarf next to her carefully braiding a piece of her hair.


	11. Chapter 11

Slowly opening her eyes, Katy couldn't remember the last time that she had that good a sleep. _Definitely not since we've been in Middle Earth_, she thought.

She sat up in her camp bed, and was startled to find Sarah sitting on Fili's empty bed, grinning at her. It was then she realised that she and Sarah were the only ones in the room, and she could hear the sounds of the dwarves and Bilbo preparing breakfast in the next room.

'Did I sleep in or something? I'm surprised Dwalin didn't yell at me to get up,' Katy said, still sleepy.

Sarah kept grinning at her.

'He was planning to, but I persuaded him that I should be the one to wake you up,' she said.

Katy looked at bit puzzled.

'Really? And why is that?' she asked.

'I wanted to be the first person to talk to you about that,' Sarah answered, gesturing at Katy's head.

Katy sighed, and started running her hands through her hair.

'When are you going to stop going on about my frizzy ha-' Katy stopped, as her hand came across a neat braid.

Sarah practically squealed with delight.

'I told you he wanted to braid your hair! He must have done it last night, when you were asleep!' she said, delighted.

'Erm, yeah, I guess he must have done. Also I might have asked him to last night,' Katy mumbled, her fingers still holding the braid.

'What?! You asked him to do it? Good for you, cos to be honest, I was starting to think he would never take the massive hints I was dropping,' Sarah laughed.

Katy rolled her eyes as she climbed out of bed.

'Yeah I'm not sure how much more obvious you could have got,' she said.

'Oh, don't be like that. Stop trying to hide the fact that you're delighted he's put a braid in your hair,' Sarah said, grinning at her friend again.

Katy sighed and then grinned as much as Sarah.

'Fine, I'm really happy about. Now leave it alone. I'm actually a bit worried about what Thorin or the other dwarves might say when they see it,' Katy said.

Sarah shrugged.

'No one said anything when Kili braided my hair,' she replied.

'Hmm, I don't know, it might be a bit different. Like you said, he is the heir to the throne,' Katy said, looking a bit worried.

'Look, don't get all weird about it now. And don't think too much about it. From what I've gathered about the hair braiding, all it means is that you're basically dating the dwarf,' Sarah said reassuringly.

'I guess you're right. I mean its not like I'm saying that I want to marry him and have his children… if that would even be possible…' Katy said.

'Well I'm sure finding out it if it was possible would be fun,' Sarah giggled.

'Ok, I think this is where we end this conversation,' Katy said, and she started to make her way to the door.

'Oh come on, like it's never crossed your mind. I know he's a dwarf but as far as I can tell they've got all the same parts-' Sarah said, laughing.

Katy turned to face her friend before she opened the door.

'Sarah! I'm going to be embarrassed enough about the braid let alone thinking about having sex with… FILI!' she said, startled as she opened the door to find the dwarf in question standing there, looking as surprised as she did.

'Ah, there you are, Dwalin was threatening to come and wake you, but I thought I would be more gentle about it,' Fili explained.

'Oh I bet you would be gentle!' Sarah said loudly.

Fili looked a bit puzzled, while Katy turned a bright shade of red.

'Ignore her. Please, ignore her. So, breakfast?' Katy said, putting on a big smile, and walking past Fili.

'Is she alright?' Fili asked Sarah, still looking puzzled.

'She is now that you've braided her hair,' Sarah smirked, as the two of them followed Katy to the living area.

'Oh, you noticed that? She isn't annoyed that I did it, is she? I mean, she did ask me to,' Fili asked.

Sarah sighed.

'What are the pair of you like! Of course she's not annoyed, she's probably the happiest she's been since we got to your crazy world. I think she's just unsure what the other dwarves will think,' she explained.

'She doesn't have to worry about them. Now that they know that we're courting, it would be out of place for them to make any comments,' Fili said. 'The same goes for yourself and my brother. Who, by the way, is wondering what is taking you so long to join us for breakfast!'

'Hey, like my ex-boyfriends found out, it isn't smart to try and rush me in the morning. Quest or no quest,' Sarah teased, as she and the dwarf joined the rest of the company.

The dwarves, Bilbo and Katy were gathered around the large table, with Beorn once again sitting at the head. As Fili and Sarah joined them, Beorn's ponies and dogs started passing around plates stacked full of cooked meat, bread and eggs.

'I don't think I'll ever get used to that,' muttered Katy to Bofur, who was sitting next to her.

'Me neither, lass!' he replied, grinning.

'And here I was thinking that Sarah and I were the only ones surprised by it!' Katy said, somewhat relieved.

'Oh, no! I've never come across anyone like Beorn before. And as for animals that serve you breakfast, never in my life have I even dreamed that, let alone see it. It's kind of a genius idea, though!' Bofur said, laughing.

Katy nodded in agreement as she glanced around the table, finally locking eyes with Fili, who was smiling shyly at her. She gave him a small smile, causing Kili, who was sitting next to his brother, to beam widely at the pair of them.

Before she could notice if any of the other dwarves had spotted her braid, Beorn started loudly telling them a funny story he had heard about goblins, and the dwarves soon were telling stories of their own. Everyone seemed in high spirits, and neither Sarah nor Katy wanted the meal to end.

'- and let's just say that other wargs will receive a harsh warning if they dare come so close again!' finished Beorn, and both of the girls, who had been talking with the dwarves either side of them, turned sharply towards their host on the mention of those hideous creatures.

'A warning? Do you think he put up a sign or something?' whispered Sarah to Balin, who was sitting next to her.

The dwarf hesitated for a moment.

'I'm not sure his writing skills would have been needed, if you get what I mean,' he said, not wanting to alarm her too much.

Sarah just pulled a face and tried not to think too much about it. It was such a pleasant morning that she didn't want any thoughts of wargs or orcs to put her in a foul mood. Before long, though, talk turned to the next stage of the quest.

'I will provide you with plenty of food and supplies to take you on your way, and you may also each have a pony to ride as well,' Boern said.

'Do you think the pony will cook me breakfast in the morning?' giggled Sarah to Dori, who was on the other side of her, and the dwarf tried his best to suppress a grin.

Boern's offer seemed to signal that breakfast was over, and as his animals cleared the table, the host himself started to put together packs for the company.

'You will not need to carry water this side of the forest, as there are streams and springs along the road. But your way through Mirkwood is dark, dangerous and difficult, and water is not easy to find there, so make sure that you carry plenty with you,' Beorn said, and the girls couldn't help but dread the time when they would have to enter the forest.

'Also be very careful of the food you find in Mirkwood. Nuts are about all that grows there, and the wild things are dark, queer and savage. I doubt very much whether anything you find in Mirkwood is wholesome enough to eat,' he finished.

With those heavy words in mind, the company quickly sorted out their packs, now full with Beorn's supplies, and made their way outside. Sixteen ponies and a horse were standing nearby, and the dwarves and Gandalf were soon climbing onto them. Katy, Sarah and Bilbo hesitated slightly, before clambering up themselves.

'I really don't know how you can get up on one of these things so gracefully,' Sarah muttered at Kili, who just grinned at her.

Gandalf, Bilbo, the girls and the dwarves said their goodbyes and thank yous to Boern, and both Katy and Sarah found themselves sad to be leaving his house as the company began to move.

'For all that he could turn into a bear, he was a really nice guy,' said Sarah to Katy, who were riding their ponies near the back of the group.

'I know, we probably ate him out of house and home, but he didn't complain one bit. He was so kind to us!' replied Katy, but just as the words had left her mouth, the company rode past what could only have been Beorn's warning to the other wargs. There on a large post on the edge of Beorn's land, was a dead warg's beaten and bloody head.

'Lovely,' said Sarah, screwing her face up at the sight and smell, 'I guess Beorn is a bit choosy about who he wants to have as a guest!'

The company continued on for most of the day, stopping only a couple of times for something to eat and drink. There were a few conversations going on throughout the group, but these slowly drifted off until the whole company was silent. It was as if every one of them could sense the approaching forest, and before long Gandalf signalled them to stop. They had reached the edge of Mirkwood Forest.

'Here it is, the greatest of the forests of the Northern World!' the wizard announced.

'If that's the greatest, then I'd hate to see the worst,' Sarah whispered to Katy.

'Now, it is here that we must send back Beorn's ponies, for we are to continue on foot. And I will also be leaving you here as well,' Gandalf continued.

Katy and Sarah let out a groan. They had forgotten that the wizard had told them he wouldn't be accompanying them any further.

'Now, now, we've dicussed this before. I have other matters to attend to. But I will see you again soon, no doubt, and I will find out how to get you two home safely,' he said, and smiled reassuringly at them.

'Thanks Gandalf. We're just a bit sad to see you go. You've been so kind to us,' said Katy.

Bilbo also looked sad to see the wizard make his farewells, and the dwarves muttered their goodbyes. Thorin looked a bit apprehensive as to continuing the quest without the wizard, but he didn't seem to want to show this too much to the rest of the company.

Once everyone had dismounted from the ponies (the girls no more graceful at that), Gandalf wished them all good luck on the quest.

'Remember Beorn's warning about the water and wild animals in the forest! And whatever you do, do not stray from the path!' he said, and with those words, he turned and left them at the forest entrance.

'And then they were 16…' muttered Sarah, as the company silently moved into the forest.

With each step, the world around them seemed to grow darker and quieter. No birds could be heard singing, and the trees themselves were huge and gnarled, with branches twisting into the path. The forest gave off a strange kind of feeling – sort of dark and secretative, and as if someone, or something, was watching them.

'Ok, I get it now about the dark and dangerous stuff that Beorn and Gandalf were going on about. I really don't like this place,' Sarah said quietly to Kili, who gave her a slight smile and squeezed her hand. She turned to Katy, who was walking just behind her with Fili, and could see from the look on her face that she felt the same way.

None of the company were making much small talk, and no one felt in the mood for jokes or games. After a couple of hours of walking, the forest had become so dark that it was becoming difficult to see very far in front of them.

'Let's stop for the night, and make camp. We'll only end up losing the path if we continue,' said Thorin, and everyone quietly set to work on setting up camp. A small fire was lit, and Bombur started on the stew, but it didn't do much in providing warmth in the cold air of the forest.

'How are you doing?' asked Fili, sitting close to Katy as they both ate their stew.

'I'm ok, considering the dark and freezing forest we're in,' she replied, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. Weirdly, she also found herself feeling a bit shy – she hadn't found the time to thank the dwarf for braiding her hair. _I guess we've got slightly more pressing matters to think about, rather than hair braiding_, she thought, as she gave Fili a smile.

He returned the smile, and continued eating his stew.

After what had been such a pleasant nights sleep at Beorn's, both girls found themselves struggling to get to sleep in the forest. All the company were huddled close by to one another, and an oppressing silence settled over the group as they all lay on the ground with Kili sitting bolt upright, taking first watch.

When Nori took over the watch a couple of hours later, Sarah was still awake as Kili shifted in his sleeping bag next to her.

'How long do you think it will take to get through this forest?' she whispered, slightly startling him.

The dwarf shook his head.

'I have no idea. Maybe a week?' he replied.

Sarah let out a little whimper.

'God, that feels like ages,' she muttered, and Kili's heart sank, not knowing what to say to her what would make her feel better.

'As long as we all stick together, we'll be fine,' he said, pressing closer to her. She smiled at him, and eventually the two of them drifted to sleep.

All too soon though, morning broke, and the company reluctantly got up and starting packing away their sleeping bags. After a small breakfast, they were once again walking through the forest.

Trudging along the path, today felt no different to the previous, and soon each day merged into one. It was the same pattern. Get up, have breakfast (which seemed to grow smaller each day, as the food supplies grew fewer), and walk along the path until they stopped to camp. Most of the company were getting quite short tempered with one another, and even Sarah, Katy, Kili and Fili had snapped at one another.

After one particularly pitiful meal, a few of the dwarves started talking about catching one of the squirrels that they had seen darting about.

'I mean, it might not taste great, but it could be _something_,' said Dori hopefully, and Bombur looked to agree with him.

'Hmm, I'm not so sure about that, laddie, remember what Beorn said about the wild animals in the forest. I wouldn't want to risk it myself,' said Balin.

'Well, look! It was only a suggestion! I'm just trying to be a bit positive about things. We're running out of food, and it looks like _some _people are eating more than others!' Dori retorted.

'And who exactly are you referring to when you say that, eh?' bellowed Dwalin.

'I'm not naming names! It just seems to me that some _ladies_ are being given more of the food when the dwarf that they are courting is handing out the food!' said Dori loudly.

'Excuse me?! Katy and I are having just as much, or should I say, just as little food as the rest of you, so don't start having a go, ok?! And thanks a bunch for sticking up for us!' Sarah said, glaring at Kili.

The dwarf just glared back at her, and grabbed his bow and arrow. For a second Sarah thought he was going to put an arrow through Dori, but he aimed it at the tree above them. Quickly firing the arrow, a dead squirrel soon fell into Dori's lap, causing him and some of the dwarves around him to jump.

'Eat that if you're hungry,' muttered Kili.

Dori looked to be considering it for a minute, before deciding against it. Shaking his head, he tossed the squirrel into the bushes, mumbling about the smell putting him off.

'Is it wrong that I find Kili really hot when he's all mean and moody?' whispered Sarah to Katy.

Her friend rolled her eyes.

'Nope, not in the slightest,' she replied, and Sarah grinned at her.

The company may have discarded the idea of eating squirrel, but that didn't stop them feeling hungrier as each day passed. The forest seemed neverending.

'Is there no end to this accursed forest?' said Thorin. 'Somebody must climb a tree and see if he can get his head above the roof and have a look round.'

No one seemed to be volunteering for the job, until Bilbo said loudly that he would do it.

'Careful, Bilbo!' shouted Sarah, as the hobbit slowly climbed up a tall tree nearby.

'Yes, thank you for that!' he snapped not looking back at them.

'Ok, even Bilbo is grumpy now,' muttered Sarah.

The company watched as the hobbit climbed further up the tree, until they could see him no more. After an agonising few minutes, Bilbo reappeared.

'Well, what did you see?!' said Bofur eagerly.

'Life!' exclaimed Bilbo. 'There was sun, fresh air, a cool breeze, even butterflies!'

'And what about an end to this forest?' asked Thorin.

The hobbit shook his head sadly.

'I could see no end to the trees and the leaves in any direction. The forest goes on forever and ever!' he said, and everyone's hearts sank.

'Then we must press on. We have probably got enough food for one more meal, so we can't waste anymore time,' said Thorin.

The company continued on, and ever so slowly, the trees started to change slightly. Although no one voiced their opinion, for fear it was wrong, they all had a tiny bit of hope that they were perhaps getting closer to the other side. The more they looked at their surroundings, the more they were convinced that there seemed to be a bit more colour in the light. Perhaps a bit more life was creeping into the forest.

That night they are their very last scraps and crumbs of food, and the next morning when they woke the first thing they noticed was that they were still gnawingly hungry. The day passed as each day before it had done, with the company keeping to the forest path with very little conversation between them. Fili had taken to holding Katy's hand, and the gesture was pretty much all that was keeping the girl going through the long days.

Suddenly Sarah turned to Katy, Kili and Fili, who were all walking close together.

'Do you hearing singing? Like, really soft, cheerful singing?' she asked them.

Kili and Katy shook their heads, but Fili nodded in agreement.

'Yes! I did hear that a while back, but thought it was my imagination!' he said, rather excitedly.

'Oh thank god, I thought I was going crazy! Do you hear them now?' Sarah asked.

Fili was silent for a minute, listening carefully.

'No, sorry,' he said, and Sarah looked a bit disappointed.

'Hmm, cause I thought I heard it just there. Maybe we are all going crazy…' she said.

'I will take the craziness as long as I can have some food,' said Katy, and the rest of them looked to agree.

They fell back into silence, with all four of them listening out for any singing, when suddenly Balin shouted loudly from the front of the group.

'What was that? I thought I saw a twinkle of light in the forest!' he exclaimed.

'Oh dear, now Balin is seeing things,' said Katy, but no sooner had she said it when Dwalin shouted that he too had seen a light. The two dwarves pointed in the direction that they had spotted the light, and soon the whole company was watching a red twinkle in the dark. At first it was just one tiny dot, but soon another and another sprang out beside it.

'Quick now, let's see what it is!' cried Nori, and without any hesitation, the whole company ran towards the light, but remembering to stick to the path. When they had at last drawn level with it, it seemed plain that torches and fires were burning under the trees, but a good way off their track.

'What should we do? We can't get any closer without leaving the path!' said Kili.

'Forget about the path, I say we head straight for the light. It's clearly a camp, and there might be food and water!' said Dori.

'But remember Gandalf's warning about straying from the path,' replied Fili.

Everyone was silent for a moment, unable to decide on what to do.

'I say we send out some spies who can creep nearer to the lights and find out more about them,' said Balin, and there was soon a rabble of voices as all the dwarves seemed to want to be one of the spies.

'Enough!' shouted Thorin. 'We cannot afford to get separated. We all move towards the light, slowly and together.'

Katy and Sarah both felt a little fearful at leaving the path, but there was no way they were going to remain there without the dwarves.

Keeping close to one another, the company moved off the path and toward the lights, trying to be as quiet as possible. As they got closer, they hid behind nearby trees, and looked out onto a small clearing in the forest. A number of fires had been lit, and gathered around them were a large number of people.

'Elves!' hissed Thorin, and Katy and Sarah were reminded of the dwarves' hatred for the elves.

The elves looked to be having some kind of feast, and they were all eating, drinking and laughing merrily. The sight and smell of all the food appeared to be enough for the dwarves to put aside their hate, as they all suddenly moved forward. Without giving it a moments thought, Katy, Sarah and Bilbo also moved towards the feast, but no sooner had they got any closer when all the lights went out as if by magic.

'What the hell happened there! I swear I could smell the meat!' hissed Sarah, as darkness suddenly surrounded the company. Everyone was fumbling around, trying to find each other, until Thorin told them all to stay still.

'Can anyone remember what direction the path was in?!' he whispered. No one could, and it wasn't long until Bofur said what everyone else was thinking.

'We're lost! Lost in Mirkwood Forest!' he cried, and Katy and Sarah could sense the panic spreading throughout the group.

'Ok, everyone just calm down and stay where you are. We've got no choice but to stay here until the morning, and then we can find our way back to the path,' said Thorin, and grumbling, everyone settled down on the ground beneath their feet. Luckily Fili was still holding onto Katy's hand, and even though she could barely make him out next to her, he squeezed her hand so she knew he was there.

'What do you think happened to those elves? They can't just have vanished, surely?' Sarah whispered to no one in particular. Just as she said it though, Dori shouted out.

'There! The lights are coming out again over there, and there are more of them than before!'

Everyone was immediately on their feet.

'No rushing forward this time! No one is to stir from hiding until I say. I shall send Bilbo alone first to talk to them. They won't be frightened of him,' said Thorin.

No one could tell exactly where Bilbo was standing, but everyone heard the indignant squeak he gave when Thorin said this.

'What about if I am frightened of them?!' he said.

'You were pretty keen on the elves when you met them in Rivendale,' said Bofur, and before the hobbit could reply, Thorin gave him a sharp nudge forward. As he fumbled around with something in his pocket, the lights suddenly went out for a second time.

'Everyone, again stay where you are!' shouted Thorin.

'Where's Bilbo?!' yelled Sarah, but no one could locate him.

'Look, Thorin, we can't keep chasing those lights. We're going to have to sleep here, and find the path again in the morning. And I suggest if the lights do appear again, we try and locate the hobbit,' said Balin. Thorin looked like he was going to argue, but held his tongue. They had been so close to reaching the fires, but it would have been foolish to try to move in the darkness.

'Ok, everyone, get yourself as comfortable as you can. We're staying here for the night,' said Thorin.

Both Katy and Sarah were worried about Bilbo, but they realised that there was no way of finding him in the dark. Settling down with the dwarves, they soon drifted off to sleep.

For the second time since arriving in Middle Earth, Katy found herself having a vivid dream of her life back home, and of her parents. They were all in the kitchen, and it looked like they were preparing Christmas dinner. Katy loved that time of year, and she was pleasantly dreaming of sitting by a warm fire in her living room, when suddenly something sharp poked her arm. Still half asleep, she tried to reach for her arm, only to find that she was bound by a strong sticky substance. Struggling to gain full consciencenss, Katy realised that something was binding her whole body with the substance. As she frantically tried to reach for her sword, she felt another sharp poke in her arm, only this time she turned to see the largest spider she had ever seen right next to her. Before she even had to chance to scream, she felt herself grow even more woozy, and she fell into a deep sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

The world around Katy was slow, hazy and muffled, and various thoughts slipped in and out of her head randomly. Her parents…Sarah…Spiders…Fili…SPIDERS! Katy's eyes suddenly flew open as she remembered the horrible sight of the massive spider coming towards her, and she started choking as she tried to breathe. Bilbo was right in front of her saying something, but she couldn't quite make it out as she took deep breaths. She felt movement beside her, and soon Sarah was also awake and fighting for air.

'What happened? Are the spiders gone?' she asked, wheezing.

'For now, yes. But I think they will be back, so we must hurry,' the hobbit said, as he used his sword to cut away the binding around Katy's legs. She watched as Bilbo scurried off to a number of dwarves next to her who were also heavily bound and sleeping.

'They'll be back?! Oh god!' she cried, and she turned to Sarah and helped her remove her binding.

'What happened? I really don't feel so good,' she mumbled, before throwing up.

'It's the poison! Looks like it can cause sickness! Don't worry, it's not just you, quite a few of the dwarves are also throwing up,' Bilbo shouted, as he freed Ori and Dori.

'And that's meant to be reassuring?!' said Sarah, and both girls looked around to see Kili, Fili, Bofur and Nori looking decidedly worse for wear.

Katy managed to climb to her feet, and stumbled over to the dwarves.

'Are you ok?' she asked them, but before they had time to reply she was sick herself.

'Feeling just as good as you are,' Fili mumbled, giving her a slight smile.

Bilbo had by this point managed to free the rest of the dwarves, and the hobbit was right, most of the company looked to be feeling the affects of the spider poison.

'Bilbo, why weren't you caught? We thought we lost you!' asked Bofur.

'There's no time to explain now, we need to move. Those spiders will be back soon,' Bilbo replied, and the words had barely left his mouth when a loud scuttling was heard through the trees.

'Oh god, is that them?!' shrieked Sarah, and moments later a pack of huge spiders were in front of them, full of rage.

Bilbo was immediately on his feet and aiming his sword at the spiders, jabbing them and trying to keep them back. Most of the company were stunned by his bravery, but couldn't think about it too much, as they too had to fight off the spiders.

Many of the dwarves, as well as Katy and Sarah, were still feeling the effects of the spider poison, so weren't much use when it came to fighting. It was soon clear that the hobbit was struggling without much support, and that it wouldn't be long until they would be all overpowered like weary flies. Some of the spiders had even managed to start weaving the sticky substance around some of the dwarves. Suddenly, Bilbo stopped fighting and turned to the dwarves and girls.

'I am going to disappear! I shall draw the spiders off, if I can, and you must keep together and make in the opposite direction. Head for the left, that's more or less where we last saw the elf fires!' he shouted.

'What are you on about? What do you mean you are going to disappear?' shouted some of the dwarves. That very second, the hobbit seemed to vanish into thin air. Before any of them could start to wonder where he had gone to, they all heard the hobbit's voice, shouting and calling the spiders' names.

The spiders looked as confused as the company was, and suddenly it seemed as if the creatures were being attacked by some invisible force. Deciding that now was not the time for questions, the dwarves, Katy and Sarah all ran in the direction that Bilbo had instructed them to go. It took them longer than it would have done, had most of them not been unsteady on their feet, but eventually they had reached the edge of the area where the fires had been.

'What was all that about? Does the hobbit possess some kind of magic that we don't know about?' asked Dori, catching his breadth.

'It would seem that Bilbo Baggins has a lot of explaining to do,' said Thorin, and the whole company began to look around for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, there was a noise from the trees, and for a minute they thought it was the spiders again. Instead, though, elves appeared from all sides of the clearing, carrying bows and spears.

'Halt!' one of them cried, but he need not have bothered, for none of the company could have taken on the elves in the state they were in.

'You have no reason to be wandering around Mirkwood Forest. Thranduil will be intrigued,' another elf said, and both Sarah and Katy heard Thorin have a sharp intake of breadth.

Without another word, the elves surrounded the company, and forced them to move away from the clearing.

'Who's Thrandwee?' whispered Katy.

'Thranduil. He's the King of the Wood-elves,' replied Balin.

'Ok, are they like the other elves were met? I didn't mind those guys but they weren't pointing spears at us!' said Sarah.

'No, these are a different race of elves. They say they aren't wicked, but they don't like strangers, and are very distrustful. And they aren't too fond of dwarves!' Balin said.

'Where are they taking us?' asked Katy, growing more and more afraid of these elves the more she heard about them.

'Wherever it is that Thranduil has his fortress,' answered Balin.

Sarah and Katy glanced fearfully at one another, and tried to move so that they were beside Kili and Fili. The two young dwarves looked relieved when they were next to them, but before they could say anything to each other the elves poked them with their spears, urging them to quicken their pace.

After what seemed like miles, they elves stopped in their tracks, and the company saw that they had reached large stone doors. The doors soon opened, and the elves marched the dwarves and girls towards the opening of a large cave. It was lighter and more wholesome than any goblin-dwelling, and neither so deep nor so dangerous, but the company were still fearful of what lay ahead.

As they were led down into the cave, Katy, Sarah and a few of the dwarves couldn't help but think what could have happened to Bilbo. He had disappeared, right in front of their eyes, and they had no idea where he was now.

Before they could give any more thought to the missing hobbit, the elves ushered them into a spacious chamber, where a stern elf sat on a throne in the centre. The elves pushed the company right in front of the throne, and stood back. Katy and Sarah were pushed into the middle of company, and were trying their best to remain unnoticed.

'Well, well. What have we here? A pack of dwarves found wandering in Mirkwood Forest. What brings you into these woods?' he said, his voice softer than both Sarah and Katy had expected.

Thorin remained silent for a few minutes before speaking, seemingly choosing his words carefully.

'We lost our way from the path, and were attacked by spiders. We only just managed to escape when we were once again taken prisoner by these elves. Show us the way out of this forest and we will leave at once!'

'And why, may I ask, were you in the forest in the first place? What purpose did you have?' Thranduil asked.

The dwarf king didn't say anything, and the girls both realised that he didn't want the elf to know about the quest.

'Very well!' said Thranduil. 'Take them away and keep them safe until one of them feels inclined to tell the truth, even if it takes a hundred years.' He motioned for the elves to lead the company away, when suddenly he gestured for them to stop.

'Wait! What is this, two females part of the group? Where have you come from, and what business do you have with a bunch of dwarves?' said Thranduil.

_Crap, so much for not being noticed,_ thought Sarah.

Thranduil smiled at them, though it did nothing to put the two girls at ease.

'Take the dwarves away, but leave the females here. I want to speak with them separately.'

Neither Katy nor Sarah thought that sounded like a chat they wanted to have, but they didn't have much choice. The group of elves were already forcing the dwarves through a large door, and despite the struggles by Kili, Fili and a few of the other dwarves that were close by them, the girls soon found themselves standing alone in front of the king. They had come up against orcs and goblins, but they were probably more terrified of this elf than all of those things. At least they knew that those other creatures were pure evil, with Thranduil, there was a slyness that meant they didn't have a clue what he had in store for them.

'And now that those wretched dwarves are no longer present, I think it's time for you both to tell me what exactly you are doing here. There's been whispers of young maidens from other world, and I'm highly interested to know why you have tied yourselves to a group of dwarves,' he said.

'Wait, you've heard about us? How is that possible?' Sarah asked.

Thranduil smiled.

'If you think you are making your way through Middle Earth unnoticed then you are mistaken. What is your purpose here?' he asked.

_Ok, kind of dodged the question there mister, _Sarah thought, annoyed. Katy stood beside her, not wanting to utter a word.

'Um,' Sarah glanced at Katy.

_What the hell do we tell him? _Both girls thought at the same time, and they instinctively knew not to mention the quest.

After a moments silence, Sarah piped up.

'The dwarves are trying to help us find our way home,'

'Are they now?' Thranduil sounded surprised.

'Yeah, really great bunch a guys, actually. Saw us wandering around by ourselves and wanted to give us a hand. Except we're kind of still wandering, none of us know where to go, so we're just…wandering,' Sarah finished.

Katy just looked at her in disbelief.

_Really? He's going to believe that 13 dwarves and 2 girls are simply wandering around in the hope of finding a way back to Kent?! _Katy thought.

'Just wandering, then?' Thranduil questioned.

'Yup,' replied Sarah.

'Very well then,' he said, and turned to an elf standing nearby.

_I can't believe he actually bought that…,_Sarah thought, and she turned to Katy with an almost triumphant smile. Her friend still didn't look so sure.

'Bidren, take them to their room,' Thranduil said to the other elf.

'Wait, you're just going to lock us up with the dwarves? Look, we didn't mean to walk into your creepy wood and bump into those nasty spiders. Is this how you treat all innocent passersby?' Sarah said, practically shouting at him.

'Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not going to put you with the dwarves. Why, I think two young maidens who have spent so long, what was it, _wandering_, deserve a bit more comfort than I have afforded your dwarf companions,' he replied.

With a nod of his head, Bidren walked up to the girls and gave them a lazy smile.

'Please come with me and I'll show you to your quarters,' he said softly.

_Huh?_

Even Sarah was speechless.

After a minute of looking at each other in confusion, the two girls stumbled after the elf, not quite sure where they were going, but not wanting to test Thranduil's patience.

'Where is he taking us?! And what was all that chatter about wandering?!' hissed Katy.

Before Sarah had the chance to reply, Bidren turned sharply around to face them.

'Did you have something you wish to ask me?' he said.

Katy froze.

'Nope, just wondering what our quarters will be like,' Sarah answered for her friend.

The elf smiled lazily at them (_That is really creepy, _thought Sarah) and continued down the corridor until they reached a solid wooden door at the end. As if from nowhere, Bidren brandished a large key, and with a glance at the girls, opened the door and gestured for them to step inside.

The room was in no way large or luxurious, but it was by far the most comfortable room they had seen since leaving Rivendell. And the second they saw it the girls felt a stab of dread.

'How long are you keeping us here?' Sarah asked quietly.

'Thranduil was touched by your tale of searching for your home. He wishes to keep you in comfort until he can find a way to return you back where you belong,' Bidren replied.

'We're not staying here,' Katy said sharply, and even Sarah was stunned by her friend's harsh tone.

'But you are so lost? And surely you do not wish to wander for much longer?' the elf asked.

'We were fine as we were. With the dwarves, erm, wandering…' Katy said. Sarah still seemed shocked by what she was saying.

Bidren just gave them one more of his lazy smiles, and turned to leave the room.

'Hey, what did you do with the dwarves?! Where are they?!' Katy shouted, and as the elf closed the door behind him and turned the key, she started hammering its wooden surface.

'Ok, first off, I don't think he's going to tell you, and second, since when did you get some balls?' Sarah asked.

Katy looked confused.

'What?'

'The way you just spoke to mister creepy there? I was even scared of you,' Sarah said, proudly.

'Well, I just wanted him to know what there is no way that we're staying here. We're part of that company of dwarves whether they like it or not!' Katy practically shouted.

'Ok, ok, calm down, you don't need to convince me. God, he really wound you up!' Sarah said, and gave her friend a tight hug.

'I don't want to stay here,' Katy whispered in her ear, and Sarah could feel her shaking.

'Hey, it's ok, it'll be ok,' Sarah said.

'Will it, though? Where are the dwarves?' Katy said softly.

'Look, those guys are tough as nails. Wherever they are, they are probably fine. In fact, they're probably already planning their escape. Before you know it, that golden haired prince of yours will be coming to rescue you,' Sarah said, trying to lighten the mood.

'And I kept telling him I wasn't a damsel in distress,' Katy grumbled.

Sarah pulled her friend into another hug, and both girls were quiet as they wondered just what had happened to the dwarves…

Far below where Katy and Sarah were being held were the dungeons, and 13 angry dwarves sat in one of the bare cells. One of the elves had provided them with food and water, but had remained silent when asked how long they were being kept here. As some of the dwarves whispered about attempts at escaping, Kili and Fili's minds were on the two girls, and what Thranduil had done with them.

He wouldn't hurt them, would he?' whispered Kili to his brother.

'I don't know. He might ask them why we were in Mirkwood Forest to begin with, and if they don't tell him anything, then I hate to think what he would do,' Fili replied.

'Ok, as my older brother you're meant to be a bit more reassuring. Thanks for that!' hissed Kili.

Fili chuckled.

'Sorry, K. I'm not feeling very reassured myself right now. I'm also starting to regret braiding Katy's hair,'

Kili turned to him in disbelief.

'What? Are you serious? It took you long enough to have the guts to do it in the first place, and now you wish you hadn't?' said Kili, confused.

'I don't mean like that. If the elves see the braids, they might realise that Katy and Sarah are more, I don't know, connected to us then they originally thought. Which might mean more trouble for them,' Fili explained.

'I see what you mean. Maybe the girls will realise that themselves and untie the braids before anyone notices?' said Kili, hopefully.

'Hmm, I'm not so sure. They're a bit clueless when it comes to braiding, they might think that it's more offensive than anything,' Fili said.

'That's a bit harsh, but you're probably right,' Kili replied.

'Oi, you pair,' shouted Bofur from across the cell.

The brothers glanced over at him.

'I'd have a bit more faith in those two lassies, they've shown to have more brains than you at times. Dare I mention the two ponies that went missing under your watch?' Bofur said.

Kili and Fili looked a bit put out, but didn't have anything to say in response. The dwarves fell into silence, not realising that an elf had been listening to their every word.

Katy and Sarah had been sitting in their room for a couple of hours, and nothing had happened. No rescue attempt from the dwarves, and no other visits from the elves. Suddenly, they heard the lock turn, and the door swung open.

_Oh joy, _thought Sarah, _mister creepy is back._

Bidren nodded at the girls, and another, younger female elf stepped into the room.

'Thranduil has requested that you are given the chance to bathe and dress in clean clothes. He doesn't want his guests to go without,' he said, in his usual soft voice.

'Unless the dwarves are also getting the chance to have a bath, then we don't want one,' said Katy, and once again Sarah was surprised at her tone.

'My apologies, I didn't make it clear. You don't have a choice in the matter. And it was the dwarves themselves that requested that you remove those ugly braids of yours,' Bidren said.

Both girls were shocked for a second.

'You're lying. Why would they say that?' Sarah retorted.

'Ah, so the braids are linked to the dwarves! And I thought you were just wandering together? Braiding hair suggests something a bit more, well, permanent,' the elf said, grinning.

_Damn,_ thought Sarah.

'What do you mean, permanent? My hair was getting a bit messy and I asked them to braid it, completely harmless!' said Katy, trying to fix things.

'Nice try. But I've already heard what those two young dwarves have said about the braids. And if there's one thing I know about dwarves, is that those braids mean a great deal more than just messy hair! They think if you remove them, it will lessen the link between you and them' said Bidren, smirking.

Neither of the girls had anything to say to that.

'Now, once you are clean and dressed, Thranduil would like to speak with you again. And this time, he doesn't want to hear about trying to find your way home. You've entangled yourselves in the lives of two dwarves, so I doubt they expect you to just go back home. Your future is with them, is it not? Or have you not really thought this through yet?' the elf continued.

Katy and Sarah were stunned into silence. His words had taken them by surprise: _Your future is with them_.

'I'm glad that settles it. I'll leave you in the capable hands of Livia, who'll make sure that those braids are well and truly removed. And I'll let the dwarves know they're gone as well,' he said, and Bidren left the room.

'Come along, ladies,' Livia said quietly, and still stunned, Sarah and Katy follow her.

An hour and a hot bath later, the girls were back in their room. If it wasn't for the fact that their heads were all over the place, Katy and Sarah would have enjoyed the fact they were clean and wearing fresh clothes. But Bidren's words had stuck with them.

'He's using us, you know. He's now realised we're part of the company, and not some random hangers on, and he thinks that's his way of finding out what the dwarves are doing,' Sarah said, livid.

'But weren't we just hangers on? When we first met them? We didn't even want to go with them until Thorin told us to,' Katy said. Sarah didn't like where she was going with this.

'Yeah, but then we got to know them, got to know about _you know what_, and became closer to two of them,' she said.

'And I thought you said that the braids just meant we were dating? That I didn't need to think about marriage and babies. Because that elf seems to think differently,' Katy said.

'What does he know, he's an elf! And that's not the point. The point is that we're part of that company and we're not betraying them,' Sarah answered back.

'He seems to know more about the dwarves than we do! And I never said we would betray them,' Katy said, looking furiously at her friend.

'Ok, you are starting to scare me slightly. What are getting at?' Sarah asked.

'He said our future is with them. Do you think he meant that they assume we're going to stay with them, after they finish _you know what._ Cos I was under the impression we would be going home. Or at least that's what Fili promised he would try to help me do,' Katy said, starting to look upset.

'We've always said we would be going home. Goodness, they must have seen us constantly pestering Gandalf about it,' Sarah replied, but she didn't sound convinced.

'I don't want to hurt them, you know? We've let them braid our hair, and the whole company knows we're courting, but what if they want more? What happens if they ask us to stay?' Katy questioned.

'I'm not sure if that's even possible, didn't Gandalf say that we would go home once we're no longer needed here, when we don't have a reason to be here?' Sarah said.

'But what if they are the reason for us to stay. He's the heir to the throne. What more of a need for marriage and babies do you want?' Katy finished.

Sarah didn't know how to respond to that.

'I'm sorry, Sarah, but it just seems like way more of an adventure than we thought we were getting ourselves into,' Katy said, sounding tired.

'So are you going to break up with him? Or whatever the Middle Earth equivalent is? Cos it seems like we're sounding a little petty when there's a lot bigger things at stake,' Sarah said.

'Petty? This is our future, Sarah! And don't tell me that there's bigger things than this,' Katy spat back.

'Do you not care about Fili? Do you honestly think you can just tell him to forget everything that's happened? I mean, all those hints I made about braiding your hair, just wasted?' Sarah yelled.

'Of course I care! I care more than I ever thought possible! That's why this is such a big mess. If it was that simple, that easy, to just walk away, then I would do it. But I can't. Because I am falling for him so badly that it terrifies me. And don't tell me it's not the same with you and his brother,' Katy shouted, tears starting to fall.

'Of course it's the same. But I don't know what to do about it. For once I don't have a sarcastic comment or quick come back. I care too much about him to do that,' Sarah whispered.

'Well then what the hell are we meant to do?!' hissed Katy, but before Sarah could answer, the door swung open again and Bidren entered the room.

'Is something the matter, young maidens? I could have sworn I heard shouting through the door?' he asked innocently.

'Well apart from you keeping us against our will, everything's just great!' shouted Katy. Sarah was no longer surprised at the level of her voice.

'Ah, but that will all be over soon. Thranduil wishes to speak to you now, and I'm sure that you will come to some arrangement with him that will benefit you all. Come on now,' Bidren said, gesturing the girls to follow him.

Katy and Sarah looked at one another. This was the first time that they had come close to an argument since arriving in Middle Earth, and while neither of them wanted to be dragged in front of Thranduil without having the chance to clear the air, it didn't look they had much choice. Giving each other a quick look, they followed the elf out the door.

After leaving the girls in front of Thranduil, Bidren went down to the dungeons, and told the elf standing guard over the dwarves to take their empty plates and cups away. Once the elf had disappeared, Bidren stood at the door of the cell, watching the dwarves in silence before speaking.

'Now that you have the chance to, eh, gorge yourself on your host's food, I wanted to let you know that the two young maidens are being well looked after. In fact, they are dining with Thranduil at this very moment,' Bidren explained.

'Too right you better be looking after them!' Dwalin shouted, while Kili and Fili just glared at the elf.

Bidren smiled politely at them.

'They also wanted me to inform you that the braids you put in their hair have been removed. They thought it was for the best, considering the circumstances,' the elf continued.

Kili couldn't keep quiet any longer.

'What circumstances?' he shot. Fili looked at him with a mixture of pride and wishing he'd shut up.

'Well, you know what these maidens are like, what was it you said? They're a bit clueless when it comes to the braiding?' Bidren replied. Fili silently cursed himself for saying that. He hadn't realised they had been listening.

'The maidens were under the impression that they would be returning home, I mean isn't that what you were trying to help them do? So very kind of you, I must say,' the elf went on.

None of the dwarves said anything.

'But we thought it was a bit cruel of you to braid their hair, and then still lead them to believe they could go back home. Isn't their future with you, now? Isn't that what the braid signifies? All I did was point that out to them, and they couldn't get rid of the braids quick enough! As I said, they are with Thranduil now, and I imagine that he's inviting them to stay on here until we can find them a way home,' Bidren said.

'They're part of this company! What makes you think that they want to stay here with a bunch of elves?!' yelled Bofur.

'And what makes you think that they want to spend the rest of their lives with a bunch of filthy dwarves? You should have seen how happy they were when we let them bathe and dress in clean clothes. Wash all the _filth _out of their hair,' Bidren spat.

Both Kili and Fili instantly lunged for the elf, despite him being on the other side of the door. Stepping away from the cell, Bidren shouted through the wooden door:

'I guess you shouldn't have been so quick to believe they would stay with you. All they want is to go home. If we can promise them that, who knows what they will tell us.'

Fili and Kili picked themselves up from the floor and sat down dejectedly. Things looked hopeless. Trapped by elves, with no means of escape, and now it looked like they were losing the girls. They could feel the eyes of the other dwarves watching them, and they didn't want to think what their uncle was thinking.

Before Thorin or any of the other dwarves could say anything, Bilbo suddenly appeared in the corner of the cell.

'Bilbo!'

'Where did you come from?'

'We thought we had lost you!'

'Have you been here this whole time?'

The hobbit desparately tried to quieten the rabble.

'Please be quiet! I will explain everything, but you need to be quiet or that elf will be back!' Bilbo whispered.

The dwarves were silent but still looked puzzled.

Bilbo took a deep breath, and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a ring – a thick gold ring.

'I found this, in the goblin caves, and when I put it on, I, well, disappear. Become invisible. Watch!' the hobbit said, and he put on the ring, disappearing instantly.

The dwarves starting shouting again, and Bilbo removed the ring and shussed them all again.

'I used it to chase away the spiders, and the elves couldn't see me when they led you here. But I followed you, and I've been sneaking around ever since. I know where they're keeping Katy and Sarah, and I think I know how to get you all out of here,' Bilbo said, rushing his words. Kili and Fili both beamed at him when they heard about the girls.

Suddenly Thorin spoke.

'You mean to say you can help us escape? How?' he said.

'It involves barrels, and a bit of hiding, but I need to clarify a few things first. Now, I need to get out of here. Can one of you ask for some water or something? For all that the elves have put you in a cell, they're at least keeping you fed and watered!' Bilbo said with a grin, only to get some dirty looks in return.

'Sorry, I didn't mean it like that! Just let me get out of here!' the hobbit said, and Bofur nodded. He went to the door of the cell, and called out for some water, as Bilbo slipped on the ring. As the elf opened the door to give Bofur his water, Bilbo scurried out of the cell. As the door slammed shut, the dwarves could only hope that Bilbo would be successful.

Kili and Fili were heartened to hear that Bilbo knew where the girls were being kept, but couldn't help but think about what the elf had said before about them.

'Do you think what that elf said was true? That Katy and Sarah have removed the braids and don't want to be part of this company anymore?' Kili asked, turning to his brother.

Fili didn't say anything, and just shrugged.

'I know we braided their hair, and that can mean you've chosen the one you want to marry, but it can just mean courting now, can't it?' Kili went on.

'And what does courting normally lead to, brother? We've been so stupid,' Fili said finally.

'What are you talking about, Fee?' Kili asked.

Fili shook his head.

'We didn't exactly explain what we were doing when we braided the girls' hair. We should have spelt it out to them, what was expected,' Fili replied.

'I told them they were courting braids,' Kili said.

'I know you did. But how are meant to court them when they are back home? Is the courting just meant to stop? Did you honestly think they would stay here with us?!' Fili hissed.

'Alright, don't have a go at me! I didn't really think about it, if I'm honest. I don't think I fully understand where they are from anyway,' Kili said.

'Sorry, K. I'm just upset. I kept telling myself that the proper courting rituals couldn't happen with Katy, but I found myself growing more and more fond of her the more time I spent with her. Braiding her hair just seemed, well, _natural_,' Fili said, and Kili grinned at him.

'But now it feels like the most unnatural thing in the world. Because they are from a completely different world, and it will never work. And I can't believe it took an elf to make me see it,' Fili continued.

'She cares about you, tell me you can see that, brother?' asked Kili.

Fili gave a small smile.

'Yeah I think she does. But she also desperately wants to go home. And who can blame her? I even promised her I'd help her find her way home,'

'You're good like that, though. Always wanting to help people,' said Kili.

Fili sighed.

'Yeah, even if it breaks my heart,' he said.

Kili didn't say anything, and Fili turned to him.

'I'm sorry, K, I'm forgetting you're in the same position. Sarah thinks the world of you, and you seem so happy when you're around her,' said Fili.

Kili grinned.

'Yeah she's amazing. I don't think I've met anyone like her. I just try not to think about what's going to happen next, you know? I mean, coming on this quest is big enough, let alone meet someone like her,' he explained.

'I know. Sometimes you need to focus on what happening right now,' said Fili.

The grin suddenly fell from Kili's face.

'What's happening right now is that Thranduil is with Katy and Sarah, saying goodness knows what to them,' he muttered. He looked quickly at Fili.

'I'm sure they just took out the braids cos they figured it would look like there's less of a connection to us, don't you think?' Kili said hopefully.

Fili was quiet for a minute before speaking.

'Yeah. I'm sure that's why they did it. And I'm sure they haven't said anything about the quest either,' he said, no sounding overly convinced.

'And just because we didn't exactly tell them everything about the braids, doesn't mean we can't trust them?' Kili continued.

'Yeah, I'm sure we can trust them,' Fili said, looking doubtful.

Way above the dungeons, Katy and Sarah were back in their room, after enduring a dinner with Thandruil where they said as little as possible to the elf, and politely and firmly declined his offer of staying with the elves. He didn't seem too disheartened at their refusal, and simply told Bidrin to take them back to their quarters, which only made the girls more worried.

Once the elf had closed and locked the door, Sarah turned to Katy.

'He's not going to let us go, is he? I mean, how are we actually meant to get out of here? Never mind being stuck with the dwarves, it looks like we're stuck with some elves!' she said.

'You said it yourself, those dwarves are tough. I'm sure they'll find a way out. And come for us too,' Katy replied, but she didn't look convinced.

Before either of them could worry any more, suddenly Bilbo appeared in the room in front of them, causing them both to shriek.

'Oh my god! How on earth did you do that?!' shouted Sarah, as Katy stood speechless, clutching her chest.

'Quiet! Please be quiet! The dwarves weren't as loud as that, and there are 13 of them!' the hobbit hissed.

'Ok, I'm sorry. But appearing like that in front of us? Explain,' said Sarah.

Both of the girls listened as Bilbo told them what he told the dwarves, about finding the ring and a plan for them all to escape.

'Look, I can't say much, but just be ready when I come for you later!' said Bilbo.

'Well, it's not like we've got anything else planned! Oh Bilbo, it's so good to see you! And you said that you've seen the dwarves, are they ok?' said Katy.

'The dwarves are fine. Grumpy, angry, and Kili and Fili are worried about you both. Don't worry, you wont be in here for much longer,' said the hobbit, and both girls felt relieved.

'Now, I need to get out of this room, so could you shout for something, so they can open the door?' asked Bilbo.

Sarah nodded, and the hobbit put on the ring and disappeared. The girls were stunned for a moment, but remembering what Bilbo had asked.

'Oi, elf! Could you get me a drink or something?' shouted Sarah out the door, and moments later it was opened.

Bidren handed her a glass of water.

'Will that be all?' he asked, and Sarah nodded, thinking that the door had been open long enough for Bilbo to sneak out.

'Very well,' the elf said, and left the room.

Sarah shuddered.

'He is so creepy!' she said.

'So I guess now we wait?' said Katy, and Sarah shrugged.

'I guess. But at least Bilbo has a plan. And hey, Kili and Fili were worried about us, how adorable is that?' she said, smiling.

Katy nodded.

'I just can't wait to see them,'

'I know. So come on Bilbo, let's get out of this place!' Sarah muttered.

Both the girls and the dwarves waited and waited for Bilbo to start their escape, and just when they thought something had gone wrong, the hobbit put his plan into action. The dwarves were sitting in the cell, none of them really talking, when suddenly the lock turned and the door opened a crack.

'Come on! This way!' a voice hissed, and the dwarves immediately recognised it as Bilbo. He had somehow got the key to the cell, and the prisoners quietly left the cell and followed the hobbit through a maze of corridors. Bilbo opened a door into a small room, and all they could hear was the sound of rushing water nearby. Against one wall a dozen or so barrels were stacked, and the hobbit silently gestured for the dwarves to climb into the barrels.

'Wait here, I need to fetch Katy and Sarah,' Bilbo said, and he ran off.

'Those females are not coming with us,' Thorin said, and the rest of the company stopped climbing into the barrels to look at him.

'They have continued to be unnecessary trouble for this company, and who knows what they have told the elves about our quest,' he explained.

'They wouldn't say anything to them about it!' shouted Kili, and his brother looked shocked at his outburst directed to his uncle.

'And you say that why, because you and your brother have braided their hair? You don't have any future with them, and the sooner you realise that the better. I've allowed them in this company thus far as I was unsure of their connection to the magic that brought them to our world. But they are lost, nothing more. They don't have any benefit to our cause, and now they may have even put it in jeopardy. They have no part in this company. Come on now, into the barrels,' Thorin demanded.

Kili and Fili stood still, not uttering a word. The rest of the dwarves looked uncomfortably from Thorin to his nephews, not sure what to say. Finally Dwalin spoke up.

'Thorin, if it is true that the girls have spoken about the quest to the elves, we need to know exactly what they have told them. I suggest we bring them along, for they will be of more use to us than remaining with the elves to tell them even more about our journey. Keeping them near us will be of more benefit than leaving them behind,'

Fili and Kili gave Dwalin grateful looks, but before Thorin could respond, Bilbo ran into the room, closely followed by Katy and Sarah.

Kili immediately looked at Sarah and they exchanged brief smiles. Both girls couldn't help but notice that apart from Kili none of the dwarves paid any attention to them.

'Quick, there is no time to talk, into the barrels, all of you!' shouted Bilbo, and he began closing the lids over each barrel once they were full.

Katy and Sarah clambered into a barrel, and immediately were gagging on the stench of apples.

'Well that was a bit awkward now, wasn't it?' Sarah whispered to her friend.

'So awkward,' Katy agreed, but before either of them to say anything else, the barrel started to move, and soon they could feel it hitting the water. Bilbo had done it – they were escaping from the elves!


	13. Chapter 13

Hello again! Hope that you're enjoying the story, let me know if you have any comments, critiques, things you like, things you don't like. Got a few more chapters to post until I have to get to the actual writing again. I've got the ending sorted, just need to actually get to it.

Onwards!

xx

...

Using the barrels to escape was a genius idea, but it was in no way a comfortable ride. The company was bashed about as the barrels were swept along by the fast current. Once they were a bit away from the caves, they managed to push off the lids, and that at least allowed them all to see where they were going. Thorin gestured at one point to the bank on one side at a bend in the river, and the company managed to tilt their barrels so that they eventually crashed onto the shore. Bilbo, the girls and the dwarves all tumbled out of the barrels and onto the pebbly beach. Everyone looked relieved to be on dry land once again.

'Well, here we are!' said Thorin, once he had caught his breadth. 'And I suppose we ought to thank our stars and Bilbo! We are once more at your service! But we must keep moving, we should not linger here long.'

'Might I suggest that we head for Laketown? It's not far from here, and it will allow us to rest and fill our supplies before we continue on,' said Bilbo.

Balin and Thorin nodded at one another, looking pleased with that suggestion.

'Very well! Now gather yourselves together, we need to find a place to camp tonight,' said Thorin, and he started to move inland, gesturing for the others to follw him.

Katy and Sarah looked at one another in disbelief. Were the dwarves really not going to say anything to them about what they had been through?

Finally, Sarah couldn't take it much longer.

'Are none of you going to ask Katy and I how we are? I thought you would all be jumping at the chance to find out what Thranduil said to us,' she said loudly.

The dwarves looked at one another, but no one said anything until Thorin spoke.

'We are more interested in what exactly you said to them,' he said, looking fiercely at the two girls.

'And what exactly do you mean by that?!' Sarah retorted.

'He thinks we told them about the quest. That's it, isn't it? You think we betrayed you,' Katy said quietly.

'Well did you?' shouted Thorin.

'Really, you're actually asking us that? You think, you _all _think, that we betrayed you? That's just great, guys, thanks a bunch,' Sarah yelled, and it looked for a minute that she was going to storm off. Realising that she didn't have a clue where they were, she turned back around to face one dwarf in particular.

'Do you think I told the elves about the quest, Kili? Do you?' she asked him.

Kili looked shocked, and quickly looked between Sarah and Thorin, not knowing what to say in reply.

'What, are you checking to see if your great and powerful uncle will allow you to speak to me? Has he forbid it?!' she screamed.

The silence was deafening, and even Katy was starting to worry about how upset Sarah was getting. She was about to step in, but it looked like Sarah had just about finished her questioning.

'Do you know what, I've had enough. Take us to the nearest town, or hell, even back to those elves, and we'll wait there until we can find our way home. I've had enough. Oh, and just so you know, we didn't mention one word about the quest,' Sarah muttered, and Katy looked momentary horrified at her request.

She was going to question it when Thorin strode right up to the girls.

'We'll take you to Laketown and no further. Your time as part of this company is coming to an end,' he said.

'Come on, we need to find a place to camp before nightfall. We'll journey to Laketown in the morning,' he continued, and the company slowly started moving.

Sarah turned to Katy.

'Guess we're near the end of our adventure,' she said.

'Why did you say that? Why did you have to say we wouldn't travel with the dwarves anymore?' Katy hissed.

'They think we told the elves about the quest! I'm not sticking around if they all think we betrayed them,' Sarah replied.

'Do you really think Kili and Fili believe that?' asked Katy.

'Well they both kept pretty quiet, didn't they? Didn't really stick up for us. Kili looked like he had lost the power of speech and Fili hasn't even looked at you,' Sarah said.

'I know they didn't, but it's Thorin, he's their uncle. They probably didn't want to go against him,' Katy said. Sarah was right though, Fili hadn't even looked at her, let alone ask her if she was ok. She tried not to think too much about it, but his seemingly lack of caring had hurt her deeply.

'Hey, earlier you were all set to dump Fili because you found out the braids meant happily ever after. All I did was suggest that we let them get on with their quest, and we stay in one place until we can go home. Laketown sounds like it could be nice, don't you think?' Sarah said.

'I wasn't going to dump him. I was just a little freaked out by how permanent it all sounded,' Katy said quietly.

'But you weren't going to stay here, were you?' Sarah asked.

'No. I want to go home as much as you do. I just don't like the idea of saying goodbye, that's all,' Katy replied.

'I know. But I think this is for the best,' Sarah said.

Katy nodded in agreement, and the girls moved to keep up with the dwarves.

The company were mostly silent as they moved along the shore, looking for a place to camp. Katy and Sarah walked near the back of the group, and Fili and Kili kept sneaking glances at them, not sure if they should approach them. The girls were silent themselves when Bilbo appeared at their side.

'Are you ok?' he asked quietly, and both girls smiled at him.

'We're ok. Thank you for getting us out of there! If it wasn't for you we would still be there,' said Katy.

'I wanted you to know that I don't believe you said anything to the elves about the quest. I know you wouldn't,' Bilbo said.

'Thanks, that means a lot. It would seem that you're the only one though,' Sarah said, glaring at the backs of the dwarves.

'And I also wanted to say that I will miss you when you are no longer part of this company. You've always stood by me, when I felt so out of my depth, and I will always remember that,' said the Bilbo, and he looked like he might cry.

'Oh Bilbo! You've been so sweet to us! I mean you even let us in your home when we were first lost. We'll both really miss you,' said Sarah, and Katy nodded in agreement.

Neither the hobbit nor the girls know what else to say, and so fell into a comfortable silence, broken only when Thorin shouted that they would be stopping here and camping for the night. The dwarves started setting up the camp, and the girls sat down to one side, not feeling part of the company at all anymore.

_Ok, this has gone on for long enough_, thought Katy, and she stood and walked over to where Kili and Fili were sitting.

'Can we have a word with you both, please?' she asked them quietly.

They looked a bit startled, and glanced in the direction of Thorin. Katy rolled her eyes.

'Look, we had your braids in our hair a day ago, the least you can do is talk to us. We're not asking for much,' she said.

The brothers hesitated for a moment longer, then stood up and followed Katy over to where Sarah sat.

'What's this, come to braid our hair again?!' Sarah said.

'I asked them to join us,' Katy explained, sitting down and gesturing for the dwarves to do the same.

'Earlier, I wanted to ask how you were, but things…were a bit heated,' Fili said.

'Is that an apology?' hissed Sarah, and Fili visibly flinched.

'Sarah, come on, can we not try and make peace? I don't want to leave when things are like this,' Katy pleaded.

'When I get an apology, then I'll make peace,' Sarah muttered, and she marched over to her sleeping bag on the ground.

Kili went to go after her, but Katy stopped him.

'I wouldn't, not just yet. She'll only shout at you,' she explained.

Kili looked crestfallen.

'I need her know that I didn't think she told the elves about the quest. We both didn't,' he said, and Fili nodded in agreement.

'Well saying something earlier might have helped,' said Katy.

'I'm sorry. We wanted to, but Thorin can be…' Fili tried to explain.

'A bit of an arse? Don't I know it,' Katy muttered.

'Maybe we can talk to him, get him to let you stay with the company,' Kili said hopefully.

'I don't think that would make much difference. Sarah's pretty set on it, and I think it would be the most sensible thing to do,' Katy said.

'I want you to stay with us,' Kili said, and Katy couldn't help but smile at him.

'I know. It's not quite that simple. I'm sorry,' she replied, and was desperately wanting to ask Fili if he too wanted her to stay.

Instead there was an awkward silence.

'I think I might get some sleep too. It's been quite a day,' Katy said quietly, and she started to walk over to her sleeping bag. Kili whispered goodnight, and returned to his spot by the campfire, but Fili followed Katy.

'I really am sorry,' he said.

'I know you are, and it's ok,' she said.

'And I also don't want you to stay in Laketown,' he continued, and Katy thought she was going to cry.

'Fili, please, I can't keep saying this. We need to let you lot go on and do your thing without us. We'll find our way home,' she whispered.

'Ok. Goodnight,' he said.

'Night,' Katy said, and she tried to make herself fall asleep before the tears came.

Neither Sarah or Katy slept well that night, and Thorin woke everyone up early, planning to make for Laketown as quickly as possible. Kili and Fili gave the girls hopeful smiles, but still didn't walk beside them when they all set off. Katy was tired, hungry and cold, and one glance at Sarah's face told her she felt the same. Never had she wanted to be back home more than she did now, and yet leaving it all like this seemed wrong. She thought she counted the dwarves as her friends, even Thorin. They had been though so much together, and to leave it like this upset her greatly.

Her mood was sinking lower and lower, until suddenly she and the rest of the company began to see houses in the distance. As they continued to walk, the small group of buildings grew until Laketown rose up in front of them. A large bridge was in front of the town, and Thorin stopped the company to speak to the men standing on it.

Katy and Sarah couldn't make out exactly what was being said – they were still hanging to the back of the group, but they hoped the dwarf was asking for food shelter. The men and Thorin stopped talking, and the dwarf leader turned to the rest of the company.

'Come on, we are to see the Master of Laketown,' he said, and they all started to follow him.

'Maybe this Master guy will be like Beorn, and give us some food and somewhere to sleep?' said Katy, hopefully,

'Yeah, let's hope so. And maybe he might even have animals to serve us the food!' said Sarah, trying to lift her friend's spirits. She couldn't help but notice the sad little glances Katy gave Fili. She herself was trying her very best not to pay any attention to Kili, but it was hard, with the dwarf being hot and all. _Damn those stupid hot dwarves_, she thought, following the rest of the company.

The men led the dwarves, girls and Bilbo over the bridge, through the gates of the town, and into the market place. The place was full of people and noise, and everyone turned to watch as the company moved through the streets.

'Oh, I see why it's called Laketown now! All those buildings are on stilts over the water!' said Sarah, quite loudly. Bofur gave a chuckle, and smiled at the girls. _Hmm, maybe not all the dwarves were ignoring them, then! _Thought the girls hopefully.

The company passed by many buildings until they came to a great hall that had many lights shining outside it and many voices shouting from inside. As they walked through the doors, once again people were turning to look at the strangers, and some were even pointing at Katy and Sarah in particular.

At the head of the biggest table in the centre of the room sat a large man, and on seeing the company he rose from his seat and marched forward.

'Master, may I present Thorin Oakenshield, and his company. They have come seeking food and shelter in Laketown,' one of the men announced, before standing to one side.

The Master took a moment to study the newcomers, and his eyes seemed to linger on Bilbo, Katy and Sarah the longest.

'Welcome, Thorin Oakenshield, to my town! And what may I ask has brought you here?'

Before Thorin had a chance to speak, a number of elves sprang forward from one of the tables. No one in the company had even noticed that they were sitting among the men, women and children.

'They have escaped from Thranduil! He found them in Mirkwood and was trying to discover what they were up to when they escaped somehow,' said one of the elves.

This announcement caused an uproar, with the dwarves, men, and elves all shouting at one another, until the Master silenced them all.

'Enough! Tell me why you are here, Thorin Oakenshield, and speak the truth,'

'It is true that we were wrongfully waylaid by the Elven-king and imprisoned without cause. All we are doing is journeying back to our own land. Surely that is not a crime? All we ask is for some shelter before we continue on,' said Thorin, doing his best to keep his calm.

The Master looked to be considering his options for some time, glancing both at the elves and the dwarves.

'Very well! You may have your shelter for a day or so, Thorin Oakenshield. And first you may join us for a feast!' the Master said loudly, much to the elves disgust. The men, women and children all started singing at that point, and a few men gestured for the company to sit at a nearby table.

The Master asked Thorin if he would join him at his own table.

'It would be my pleasure, but ony if my two nephews may also join us,' said Thorin, and the Master agreed instantly, and motioned for the three dwarves to sit with him.

Kili and Fili glanced briefly at the girls, who had been brushed into seats between the other dwarves and Bilbo, before following their uncle.

'Why do they get the fancy seats?!' whispered Sarah.

'Cos they're princes? And also cos Thorin doesn't want them talking to us for too long, I bet,' muttered Katy.

Sarah just grumbled next to her.

'Can I interest you in some wine?'

The girls looked up to find a young man holding out two large glasses full of wine.

'Er, yeah, thanks!' said Sarah, and Katy smiled.

The young man put the glasses down in front of them and disappeared.

'We should probably watch how much we drink, we're smaller, remember?' said Katy, as Sarah put the glass to her lips.

'Hey, I can handle my drink just fine. Don't worry about me!' said Sarah, shrugging.

Katy laughed.

'It's not you who I'm worried about, it's Kili! You'll probably either have a go at him again or jump him!'

Sarah snorted with laughter.

'Ha, he wishes!' she said, and noticing the young man had returned with wine for the dwarves, gave him a wink.

'Oh, god, please don't flirt with him. He'll only end up disappointed!' groaned Katy.

'Just having a bit of harmless fun! I mean, we're staying here in Laketown once the dwarves move on, aren't we? We might as well make some friends!' Sarah said.

'I didn't hear Thorin saying anything about that to the Master, did you?' asked Katy, but Sarah didn't hear her, having struck up a conversation with the young man. She turned to Bilbo, who was sitting on her other side.

'You ok, Bilbo?' she asked.

The hobbit nodded furiously, in between drinking some wine and eating a forkful of fish.

'Finally a bit of comfort after that forest!' he said, and Katy couldn't help but agree.

Fili and Kili, meanwhile, were trying to pay attention to Thorin's conversation with the Master of Laketown, however their eyes kept drifting over to where the girls were sitting. They appeared to be having quite a nice time, with Sarah laughing loudly at whatever the man across from her was saying, much to Kili's disgust.

'Brother, may I suggest that you stop glaring at Sarah? She's only being polite,' said Fili.

Kili raised an eyebrow at him.

'It's not her I'm glaring at, it's him! He better watch how close he gets…' the dwarf muttered.

'If she catches you staring at her, she'll only shout at you again,' Fili said, teasingly.

'Oi, I wouldn't be so cheerful if I was you, the guy next to him has caught Katy's attention,' Kili said, nodding in her direction.

Fili gave the man a quick glance.

'It's nothing. And anyway, they're leaving the company, aren't they? The courting has ended,' he said.

'So that's it? You're just going to ignore her until we leave? Good luck with that!' said Kili.

Fili didn't say anything, and the two dwarves continued to sulk as the feast carried on around them.

And hour or so later, the Master told Thorin that he had arranged lodgings for the company nearby, and boats and rowers were put at their service.

The dwarf smiled politely at him.

'That is very kind of you, though we will not be here for long. In fact, I think many of my company are in need of some rest now.'

'Of course! Some of my men will escort you!' said the Master, and Thorin told Kili and Fili to tell the rest of the company that they were leaving the feast.

The two young dwarves gathered up the other dwarves and Bilbo before turning to Katy and Sarah.

'The Master is going to show us our lodgings, if you're finished eating?' said Fili, and gave a small smile to Katy. She returned the smile.

'Thanks! I'm really tired actually. Will be nice to have a soft bed,' she replied, and she tried to sound as cheerful as possible. _Why did it feel so awkward to talk to him now?_ She thought.

Katy turned to Sarah, who was making a big gesture of saying goodnight to the young man, while Kili looked on, glowering.

'Hey,' Katy nudged the dwarf. 'You've only got to apologise to her. That's all she's after.'

Kili shrugged and walked away.

'Oh my god, they are both as stubborn as each other,' she muttered, following him and Fili.

'Sarah! Come on!' Katy called behind her, and her friend scurried off after her.

'You do know that Kili noticed you flirting with that guy?' she asked Sarah.

'So what if he did?' replied Sarah.

'And it's upset him,' Katy continued.

'So?' Sarah said.

'So you were the one flirting with Kili in the first place. How many Mr Right's are you after?'

'None! We're going home soon anyway,' said Sarah, refusing to look at her friend.

'All the more reason to clear the air with Kili. Just let him apologise to you!' said Katy.

'Hey, he's had a lot of time to apologise. Instead he's just sat there looking all mean and moody and hot. Damn him!' she muttered, and Katy couldn't stop herself from laughing.

'What?!'

'You are still completely smitten with him!' said Katy.

'I don't know what you could possibly mean!' replied Sarah, and she quickened her pace.

The men led the company to a large wooden house not far from the great hall, and told them that they would find food and clothing to supply them for their journey home.

'You mean I get to change out of this slip of an elf outfit? Thank god!' said Sarah loudly, and Katy could see Kili trying not to laugh.

Thorin thanked the men, and instructed the other dwarves, Bilbo and the girls to make themselves at home.

'We'll be staying here for at least one day. We need a chance to rest and gather our strength for the journey ahead,' he said.

'He still hasn't mentioned anything about us staying in Laketown. Do you think he spoke to the Master about it?' whispered Sarah, as the dwarves and Bilbo started rummaging through the packs the men had left them.

'I don't know, but now is not the time to ask Thorin about it. Let's find a room and get some sleep,' said Katy, stifling a yawn.

The girls picked up a pack from the pile in front of them, and found it to full of food and camping gear.

'Where are the clothes?' asked Sarah to no one in particular.

'The men said they were in our bedrooms upstairs,' said Kili, and then blushed furiously when Sarah smiled briefly at him.

The company slowly made their way up the stairs, and found 8 bedrooms, each containing two large beds and fresh travelling clothes.

'Everyone, pick a bed and let's get some sleep. It's been a long day,' said Thorin, and went into the nearest room. The dwarves and Bilbo soon went into different rooms as well.

'Come on, let's share a room together before we have to bunk with Bombur,' said Sarah, and went into an empty room, Katy following after her. Before she shut the door, Katy glanced at the door next to her, where Kili and Fili had gone into.

'You know, it will be quite nice to go to sleep without the sound of the dwarves snoring!' joked Sarah, as she looked around the room. 'Have you seen my pack? I thought I brought it up here?'

There was a knock on the door, and Katy opened it to find Kili standing there, holding a pack.

'Hi, umm, did one of you leave a pack downstairs? I took it thinking it was mine, but it turned out Fili had taken one for me,' he said.

'It's Sarah's,' Katy said, and she held the door open for the dwarf to come into the room.

After hesitating a moment, Kili went over to Sarah, handing her the pack.

Thanks,' she mumbled, and started looking through it.

Katy took a quick look at Kili.

'Apologise!' she silently mouthed at him, pointing at Sarah. He looked a bit unsure, but before he could say anything, Katy slipped out of the door and shut it behind her. _Those two need to sort it out_, she thought.

Sarah glanced up at the sound of the door closing, and was a bit surprised to see Kili still standing there and Katy no where to be seen.

'Where did Katy go?' she asked.

Kili shrugged. 'I don't know, probably to find Fili or something,'

'There's a surprise,' Sarah muttered.

She continued riffling through the pack as Kili stood watching her.

'I know why you're being like this,' he finally said.

'What?' Sarah said.

'Being angry. It's because we hurt you and it's easier to be angry than upset,' he explained.

'No, I'm angry at you because you thought we told the elves about your quest, and even when you said you didn't think that, you didn't exactly stand up for us. You just stood there in silence while your uncle was being an arse,' Sarah said loudly.

'I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry I didn't stand up for you and Katy. I care about you a lot, and that wasn't the right way to show it. I hope you'll forgive me,' Kili said.

Sarah gave a small smile.

'Apology accepted. Thanks,'

Sarah paused for a minute before continuing.

'The elves told us you wanted us to remove the braids, in case you thought we had removed them for another reason,'

'Yeah, we realised that's why you did it,' said Kili.

'Ok, just wanted to check that it wasn't offensive or anything,' Sarah said.

'I could, erm, put another one in, um, your hair, if you wanted?' Kili asked hopefully.

Sarah smirked at him.

'Took you that long to ask me again, huh?' she said cheekily, and the dwarf looked a bit embarrassed.

'Braiding it doesn't mean that we're going to get married, does it?' Sarah asked.

'Some braids can mean that, but it doesn't have to. I understand that you need to go home, if that's what you're worried about. I wont try to keep you here, if you don't want to,' Kili explained.

'Thanks, Katy and I were a bit unsure about it all. Didn't want you both to think we were leading you on,' replied Sarah.

'The way I look, I'm just happy someone wants me to braid their hair, never mind marrying them,' Kili said, as he took a few pieces of Sarah's hair in his hands.

'What do you mean, the way you look? You're flipping gorgeous!' said Sarah, making Kili blush.

'You don't have to say that. I've got quite unusual features for a dwarf, and I'm fine with it,' he said.

Sarah turned around to face him.

'I'm not just saying that. Kili, you are a gorgeous dwarf. I didn't even think I could find a dwarf attractive, but you and that brother of yours are really good-looking,' she said, grinning at him.

'Really?' Kili didn't look convinced.

'Hell yeah! We've been referring to you both as the hot dwarves since we met you,' she explained.

'And what were you calling that man you were talking to at dinner?' said Kili, raising his eyebrows.

'What, I'm not allowed to talk to other guys, am I?' Sarah replied, her voice rising slightly.

'I didn't mean it like that! I was just, uh, jealous. You had removed the braid, and you weren't talking to me. I was upset!' said Kili, indignantly.

'So you're the one upset now!' said Sarah, before giving the dwarf a reassuring smile.

'I'm sorry, Kili. There's only one hot guy in Middle Earth for me, and he's right in front of me,' she continued, making him blush.

'Oh, well, erm, thank you!' Kili said, and he went to continue braiding Sarah's hair when she moved her hand to his face.

'I really wish we didn't live in different worlds,' she whispered.

'Me too. Maybe when you find your way home, they'll be a way you could come back?' he said hopefully. 'I don't want to have to say goodbye to you when we leave Laketown.'

'Yeah I was pretty livid when I made that suggestion. Doubt Thorin will change his mind,' Sarah said.

'Then I'll guess we'll need to make the most of the time until we leave,' Kili said, and he pulled Sarah towards him, kissing her deeply on the lips.

'Yep, you're definitely the one hot guy for me here,' she said, before kissing him back even more intensely.

Standing in the hallway, Katy didn't know where she should go. All the dwarves had retired to their rooms, and she wasn't sure if she should knock on Fili's door. She wasn't sure he would want to see her, the way he was acting weird around her. Katy went to the top of the stairs, still not sure what to do. She was about to head down to the living room when a voice broke through the silence.

'Where do you think you're going?'

Whipping around with a start, Katy found Fili sticking his head outside his door, with a slight smile on his face.

'Sarah's talking with Kili, and I thought I would give them some time alone,' she explained.

'Ah, so that's where my brother has got to. I was wondering if I was going to get the room to myself. He finally apologised then,' he said.

'Well she hasn't kicked him out yet, so I guess so,' she replied.

The two of them stood in silence for a minute or two, and Katy began to feel awkward.

'Goodnight then,' she said finally, and started to walk down the stairs.

Fili continued to stay silent, and Katy again wondered if it would ever go back to the way things were. _He's standing right there, and yet I miss him_, she thought.

'Wait!'

Katy stopped and turned around to see Fili come dashing out of the door and stand at the top of the stairs.

'You can sit in my bedroom, if you want. I mean, on Kili's bed. He's not using it, right now at least. If you want,' stuttered the dwarf, and Katy tried her hardest not to smile.

'Yeah, sure, if you don't mind,' she said.

Fili gave a big smile.

'Of course not, better than sitting downstairs on your own,' he replied, and he watched as Katy climbed back up the stairs and followed him to the room next door to Katy and Sarah's.

Fili sat down on his own bed, and after a moment's hesitation, Katy sat on the bed opposite it. A few more minutes of silence later, and Katy couldn't take it anymore.

'Ok, why are you still being weird?' she asked, and he looked at her, a bit startled.

'I'm not being weird,' he said quietly.

'Then what's with all the weirdness?' Katy questioned, getting up from Kili's bed and moving towards Fili.

'What weirdness?' he asked, trying to avoid her gaze.

Katy sat down right next to him.

'This weirdness. You've barely spoken to me all day, and you can't seem to look me in the eye. I thought we had cleared the air after all that elf nonsense,' she said.

Fili sighed.

'We have cleared the air. Everything is fine, honestly,'

Katy took both of his hands and lent her face towards his.

'Tell me. Cos you dwarves have one more day in Laketown and then you're leaving. Without us. And I am not going to spend that time wondering what the hell is up with you,' Katy said.

After a minute Fili spoke.

'Fine. It's like you said, we're leaving without you, and I don't know what to do or how to act around you that will make it easier when we do leave. I keep trying to keep my distance but end up failing. I could have left you to go downstairs right now, but I wanted to spend time with you,' he explained.

'Why are you trying to stay away from me?' Katy asked, and she was almost afraid of the answer.

'Because you'll be leaving Middle Earth. And me keeping my distance might make that easier for you,' the dwarf said.

'Ok, next question. Why would that make it easier for me? I want to spend time with you, I, erm, like you. A lot, actually,' Katy said, getting a little flustered. She didn't like where Fili was going with this.

'But this can't actually work,' he said.

'I really don't like these answers, but dare I ask _what _can't work?' she asked.

'Our courtship. What I started, with braiding your hair, I was an idiot for thinking that it could ever be the courtship that I'm expected to have. Everything we've been through has tried to tear us apart, and everything reminds me that you don't belong here – in the nicest possible way. I can't expect you to give up your life back home. It's not fair,' Fili said.

It was Katy's turn to be silent.

'I knew those braids meant more than just dating,' she muttered finally, and she drew away from him.

'What?' Fili asked.

'You're right, I can't give up my life back home. So why did you braid my hair? Why did you pretend that it didn't mean marriage and babies and forever?' she asked.

'Forever? No, the braids don't have to mean that. They're just courting braids,' he explained.

'Ok, so now I am really confused. If they don't mean that I have to stay in your world, then why do you sound like you regret doing it in the first place?' she asked.

Fili turned away from her.

'Because I wanted them to mean more than that. If you were from this world I would ask you to spend the rest of your life with me. But you're not, and it would be unfair to expect you to want to. And the more time I spend with you the more I realise that we're from so very different places, and yet I can't stop myself falling in lo-,'

'Don't you dare say it,' Katy snapped, and Fili looked back at her in shock.

'Don't you dare finish that sentence then expect me to be grateful that you're trying to keep your distance from me. That is not fair,' she continued, and she stood up and walked to the door.

'Don't go, please, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry,' Fili said quickly, and Katy turned back around to face him.

'I am so sick and tired of being in this world. I want to go home to my family and I want to stay here with you. And right now I really don't have the energy to make sense of it. I don't want to talk about it and I don't want to think about,' she said.

Katy walked back towards Fili and let him put his arms around her.

'I just want you,' she whispered.

'Ok. Then let's forget about your world and my world. Let's even forget about the quest and the dragon, and everything outside of this room. It doesn't matter what happens tomorrow or the day after. Right now, it's just tonight and the two of us. How does that sound?' Fili whispered back.

'That sounds perfect,' Katy said, as Fili leaned towards her, his lips meeting hers for their first kiss, which neither of them wanted to break away from…


	14. Chapter 14

The sun shone in through the curtains, and Katy's eyes slowly opened. For a second she wasn't sure where she was. She had gotten so used to sleeping on the ground that it felt strange waking up in a bed. What was even stranger was that she wasn't alone in the bed. Opening her eyes fully, Katy saw that she was curled up next to a sleeping Fili, and a couple of minutes passed before she could take her eyes off him. _God, what is happening to me, am I really falling for a dwarf?_ She thought. She suddenly realised that neither of them was wearing any clothes, and blushed furiously when she replayed the events of last night in her head. Their first kiss… and then not wanting the kissing to end… and then when they started to remove each other's clothes…

She scanned the room, trying to locate the clothes she was wearing last night, but could only see her underwear. Carefully climbing out of bed so she didn't wake the sleeping dwarf, she tiptoed around the room, pulling on her underwear before settling on Fili's shirt. Taking one more look at the dwarf, she quietly opened the door, and went next door to her and Sarah's room. She was sure that some fresh clothes had been left for her there.

Katy pressed her ear to the bedroom door, but couldn't hear anything. She guessed that Kili was still in there with Sarah, as he hadn't come back to the room he shared with Fili, but it sounded like they were both asleep. The door creaked loudly as Katy pushed it open, and she tiptoed into the room. She had been right, Sarah and Kili were both fast asleep in the bed, and Katy tried to grab the clothes as quickly as she could without disturbing them.

'What are you wearing?'

Katy jumped at the noise, and twirled around to see Sarah smirking at her from the bed. Kili was still asleep.

'God you made me jump! I'm, erm, just getting some clothes,'

Sarah grinned some more.

'I see that. I was asking about the clothes your wearing right now. I don't remember you having a blue shirt,'

Katy glared at her. Sarah was enjoying this.

'It's Fili's. I, eh, couldn't find mine,' Katy said quietly.

Sarah laughed.

'Aww, don't be so shy. It suits you! Any sign of my clothes? I seem to have, er, lost them as well,'

This time it was Katy's turn to smirk.

'And that would have something to do with the naked dwarf next to you, I guess?'

Sarah had a quick glance at a topless Kili.

'Might have,' she said, grinning. 'Now take your clothes and get back to your own naked dwarf!'

Snorting with laughter, Katy quickly picked up her clothes and sneaked out of the room, just as Kili was waking up.

'Did I hear you talking to someone?' he said, sleepily.

Sarah smiled at him.

'Katy was just getting some clothes. It would seem like the pair of you swapped rooms last night.'

Kili just grinned at her.

'And all I did was come to your room to give you your pack!' he said, smirking.

'And apologise, don't forget that,' Sarah said, and Kili rolled his eyes.

'Yes, and apologise! And I'm glad I did say sorry!' he said, cheekily.

'Ha, I bet you are,' Sarah said, sitting up in bed.

'Do we have to get up right now?' Kili asked quietly.

Sarah sighed.

'I think we might have to. The other dwarves and Bilbo will probably be awake soon, and I doubt I want to make your uncle even angrier by keeping you in bed,' she said.

Kili frowned at her.

'Oi, don't pull that face, you know I think you're hot when your all moody,' she said, causing the dwarf to beam at her.

'On the other hand, Katy and I are leaving the company, so how angry can he really get? I say we can stay here a bit longer,' Sarah said, and KIli pulled her into his arms.

Still laughing from her conversation with Sarah, Katy opened the door to Fili and Kili's room, to find the dwarf she had left sleeping now awake and looking a bit confused. Also, he was still naked. Katy smiled at him shyly.

'Hey, I was just getting my clothes from my room. Couldn't seem to find mine in here.'

Fili grinned at her, and leant over the side of the bed and held up her dress.

'I was wondering where you had gone. This what you're looking for?'

Katy nodded, making her way back over to the bed.

'Yeah, thanks,' she said, taking the dress from him. 'I guess you'll want yours back?' She gestured to the shirt that she was wearing.

'As much as it suits you, I think it would raise some eyebrows if you were to go downstairs with it on. Thorin's face would be priceless!' Fili laughed.

Katy's face froze.

'Oh god, do you think everyone is going to know what, erm, happened?' she asked, trying to picture Thorin's face when he realised what she had been getting up to with the heir to the throne.

Fili laughed again.

'Don't worry about it, they know that I've been courting you. You should hear some of the things that they have gotten up to in the past!'

Katy looked a bit horrified.

'I didn't really need to hear that,' she muttered, causing even more laughter from the dwarf.

She was about to get dressed when she stopped suddenly, thinking of something.

'So they still think that your courting me? Even though my hair is no longer braided and Sarah and I are leaving the company?' she asked.

'Well, I guess that's up to you. I can stop courting you, if you like. I told you last night that I've been trying and failing to keep my distance, and I kind of got the impression you didn't want that anymore,' he explained.

'Yeah, we never really did finish the conversation properly, did we?' Katy laughed. 'As much as this might hurt in the long run, I don't want you to stop courting me. I want to spend as much time as possible with you before you need to leave. You could even put another braid in, if you want?'

Fili smiled brightly.

'I'd be honoured to,' he said, and Katy rested her head against his shoulder, feeling perfectly content as the dwarf braided her hair.

The rest of the dwarves and Bilbo were all preparing breakfast downstairs when Katy and Fili came downstairs, and the first thing Katy noticed was that Sarah and Kili were still missing. _And I bet I know exactly what they are up to_, she thought, shaking her head. None of the dwarves or the hobbit said anything to them as Fili and Katy sat down with them and started eating, though Katy could feel some eyes on her, and she was sure that the new braid would be spotted instantly. She didn't dare look at Fili, for fear of turning a bright shade of red, and instead tried to make conversation with some of the other dwarves around her.

'So, what are you going to do while you're in Laketown?' she asked Balin and Dwalin, who were sitting across the table from her.

'We'll need to consult some maps first, check what is the best route to take,' said Balin.

'And sharpen our blades,' said Dwalin loudly.

Katy nodded politely.

'I see, lots to be getting on with! If there's anything, erm, that I could do, I mean Sarah and I, we would be happy to help. Even though we aren't coming with you,' she said, hearing the touch of sadness in her voice at the last part.

Dwalin and Balin were silent for a minute.

'We'll try and find something for you do, lassie,' Balin said, smiling at the girl.

'Aye, there's lots to do. Now, where is that other girl? She usually doesn't like to miss breakfast!' said Dwalin, looking around the table.

'And Kili, he doesn't seem to be here either!' Dori said loudly, as Katy wished he would shut up.

'Oh yeah! I wonder where the pair of them could be?' Bofur said, joining in. 'Was Kili still in bed when you left your room, Fili?'

The dwarf grinned widely at Fili.

'Ehhhh…'

Before Fili could think of anything to say, Kili and Sarah came bounding down the stairs, trying to look as innocent as possible.

'There they are! And we thought the pair of you were still sleeping!' said Dori.

'Oh no, we've been up for hours!' said Kili, causing Sarah to dissolve into giggles and scurry into the kitchen. As the dwarves listened to Kili explain that he had been practicing sword fighting with Sarah ('In the morning?! In the bedroom?! That's a bit odd!' said Bilbo, innocently), Katy slipped away from the table and followed Sarah into the kitchen.

'Couldn't the pair of you have been a little more subtle than that?!' whispered Katy, fetching a glass of water as Sarah tried to control her giggles.

'I'm sorry! Told you they had all the right body parts,' she whispered, causing Katy to choke on her water.

'I can't believe you actually said that,' she spluttered.

Sarah grinned.

'So come on, was he gentle? Kili was a lot more feisty than I expected…'

'Sarah, stop it, I don't need to hear that,' Katy said.

Her friend laughed.

'But we've always done this. Is it because they're dwarves? Or brothers? Or, hmm, was he a bit disappointing?' Sarah asked.

Katy could feel her face turning red, but couldn't stop herself from smiling.

'Fine, if you must know, he was… perfect,' she said, searching for the right word. 'And I honestly did not want it to be morning, as it means we're one day closer to saying goodbye.'

'I know. Do you think we could have a chat to Thorin, see if he still wants to get rid of us. Maybe if we convinced him that we're carrying the future generations of the Durin family, he might change his mind?' Sarah thought aloud.

Katy gave her a look.

'If you want to be the one to tell him that you and Kili got all _feisty_ last night, be my guest. I'd rather not tell him the details of what we got up to,'

'Please, I'm sure he knows fine well what went on last night. Fili has got a permanent smile on his face, and you've seen Kili's grin.'

Katy groaned.

'Maybe it's just as well we're leaving this company. We'd only have to put up with the teasing for a day,'

'Look, you don't mean that. You've got absolutely no reason to be embarrassed. He's a hot dwarf, you're a hot girl, why shouldn't you have some fun?' laughed Sarah.

'You're really enjoying this, aren't you?' Katy asked.

'Oh, come on, relax. Let's talk to Thorin about staying. We've got nothing to lose,' Sarah said.

'I guess you're right. Let's do it know, before I chicken out,' said Katy.

The girls made their way back to the dining table, and Katy was relieved the hear that the conversation had moved on from swordfighting to their plans for the day. Both Kili and Fili were both still wearing stupidly large grins on their faces though. Despite herself, Katy couldn't help but smile back at Fili when he caught her eye.

When the dwarves started to clear away the breakfast dishes, the girls took that as their chance to speak to Thorin. Katy told Sarah to let her do the talking.

'Excuse me, Thorin? Could we have a quick chat with you? If that's ok?' Katy said politely, and the dwarf king nodded ever so slightly at them.

The three of them went over to a quiet corner of the room and sat down.

'We just wanted to start by saying thank you for letting us come this far with you on your quest. We know it hasn't always been easy,' Katy started, and Sarah glared at her, not quite believing what her friend was saying. _Why is she being so freaking polite to the jerk? _Though Sarah.

Thorin grunted.

'You're welcome. I guess you have helped us out in some situations,' he said.

'However, we do feel that you haven't always treated us with the respect that we deserve. I mean, when Thranduil had us locked up, he basically offered us a luxurious stay with the elves until we could go home, in exchange for information about what you and the company were doing. But we refused point blank, and didn't say a word about the quest, and we are both hurt and angry that you would think we would,' Katy said, rushing through her words before Thorin had the chance to interrupt her.

The dwarf just looked at her, mildly surprised. He was silent for a minute or two.

'Well, then. I guess I owe you an apology. I'm sorry I doubted you in the first place. And I have to admit that you'll be sorely missed from the company,' he said finally, and went to turn away.

Sarah spoke up before he had the chance to leave.

'Yeah, about that? We've given it some thought, and we'd actually like to stay with you, until you reclaim your home and all that. I was angry earlier, that's all,' said Sarah.

'You'd like to stay? And what makes you think that I'd let you?' said Thorin.

'Uh, you said that had been quite useful in some situations?' said Sarah, and Katy nodded along.

'I was being polite. I said that your place in the company had come to an end, and I meant it.' The dwarf said firmly.

Sarah looked speechless, and before she thought what she was doing, Katy spoke up.

'But what about Kili and Fili? They'd be heartbroken if we didn't come with you. Their minds wouldn't be on the quest, and you wouldn't want your two best fighters distracted if you were attacked, would you?' she said quickly.

'My nephews are part of the line of Durin. Fili is my heir. His place is in this company, focussed on reclaiming our home. What makes you think that he would be distracted?' said Thorin quietly. The girls could see he was growing angry.

'Because he told me he loved me last night. That's why!' said Katy loudly, and even Sarah was shocked.

'Is that so. Then I think I need to speak to my nephews,' said Thorin, and he walked away.

'Oh crap, what have I done! That's it, we're getting chucked off this quest this instant!' said Katy.

'He said that he loved you? Did that actually happen, or did you make it up?' asked Sarah.

'He kind of half-said it. He was in the middle of saying it, then I stopped him, then he kissed me, and then we, erm…' Katy trailed off.

'Oh say no more, I get what you mean,' Sarah smirked.

'God, why did I have to say that! Fili's going to be so embarrassed. And angry! What if he didn't mean it, what if he regrets almost saying it, and is glad he didn't actually say it…' Katy said, panicked.

'Ok, calm down. Of course he means it, the dwarf's besotted with you. And he'll know that you only told Thorin so we could stay with the company. It'll be fine!' Sarah said, trying to be reassuring.

'Oh well, guess we'll soon find out,' muttered Katy, as the two girls saw Thorin go upstairs with his two nephews.

The dwarf king seemed to be talking to Kili and Fili for ages, and it was an agonising wait for the girls. Rather than just sit and wait, they both asked some of the dwarves if they could go anything to help them prepare for the next stage of the journey.

'You could help Dwalin sharpen the swords, if you like? He's outside with Nori and Bifur,' said Balin, who was hunched over some maps with Dori.

'Ehm, yeah, sure!' said Sarah, not sounding convinced. She and Katy made their way outside, and followed the sound of metal against metal.

Dwalin didn't look all that pleased that the girls we offering their assistance, and with a grunt, showed them how to sharpen swords. There was an awkward silence as the three dwarves and two girls worked alongside one another, before Katy decided it was time to say something. She gave a little cough, and Nori looked at her.

'Hi! Em, it looks like Sarah and I wont be joining you when you leave here, and I just wanted to thank you for making us feel welcome in the company,' said Katy quietly, and Sarah smiled at the two dwarves.

'It's been a pleasure to have you with us,' replied Dwalin, and Nori nodded in agreement.

'I remember that I was terrified of you when you first arrived at Bilbo's!' giggled Katy, and Dwalin smiled slightly.

'And we didn't know what to make of you pair!' the dwarf chuckled.

'But Thorin's nephews took a shine to you straight away, and we trust their judgement,' Nori added, and both of the girls blushed slightly.

The dwarves and girls continued to sharpen the swords until their hands ached. When they returned to the living area inside, they saw that Thorin, Kili and Fili were nowhere to be seen. _Surely they still aren't discussing my relationship with Fili? _Thought Katy, horrifed at the thought.

'Emm, do you know where Thorin, Kili and Fili are?' Katy asked Balin, quietly. The dwarf hesitated slightly befre answering.

'They will be discussing the quest, no doubt. Kili and Fili mean a great deal to Thorin, and he is very proud that they are by his side when we retake Erebor,' said Balin.

'Yeah, that makes sense,' muttered Katy, and Sarah could see the worry on her face.

'Is there anything else we can do? I don't think either of us can just sit hear until you lot leave,' said Sarah, and Katy looked at her gratefully.

Ori spoke up from the corner of the room.

'If it's not too much trouble, perhaps you can both help me to record our journey so far?' he asked quietly.

The girls glanced at one another before grinning at Ori.

'That sounds like a lovely idea, thanks Ori!' said Katy. She and Sarah went over to the dwarf, who had spread out in front of him his collection of papers documenting the quest. As the other dwarves and Bilbo continued their own preparations, the girls and Ori spent the afternoon sorting through the dwarf's scribbles, and adding their own notes to them. Every once and a while, they would glance to the stairs leading to the bedrooms – neither of them had seen Thorin or his nephews since this morning.

As evening drew in, Bombur and Bofur began preparing dinner, and suddenly Thorin was back in room, making sure that everything was ready for their departure in the morning. Katy, Sarah and Ori finshed up their writing, and joined the rest of the dwarves and Bilbo at the table. Fili and Kili were at the other end of the table to the girls, and they seemed a bit subdued. On seeing their expressions, both Sarah and Katy thought the same thing – Thorin has told them that they are no longer part of the company. Their hearts sank.

Dinner was a quiet meal that evening, and it was clear that everyone was thinking about tomorrow, and leaving Laketown. Just as they were finishing eating, the Master of Laketown came by the house, and asked to speak with Thorin. The girls thought that this would be their chance to speak to Kili and Fili, but Thorin gestured for his nephews to follow him outside to speak with the Master.

'Ok, I think Thorin no longer wants us anywhere near those two. Maybe he found out what we got up to with them last night. I mean it wouldn't have taken a genius to work it out!' whispered Sarah.

'You could be right. I think we just have to resign ourselves to the fact that they'll be leaving tomorrow without us. Thorin might be telling the Master that we'll be staying on longer,' replied Katy.

When the three dwarves returned from outside, they didn't give anything away about what the Master had to say to them.

'I suggest we all get a good night's sleep tonight. We'll be up at first light to leave this place. The Master has been kind enough to supply us with boats,' said Thorin, and the other dwarves and Bilbo started making their way to their bedrooms. Katy and Sarah lingered, and Thorin turned his attention to them.

'Come on, you better get some sleep. You'll need to be ready to leave with the rest of us,' he said, and without another word made his way upstairs. He passed by Kili and Fili, who once again wore massive grins on their faces.

'What the hell? We're now part of the company again? Make up your mind, mister!' yelled Sarah at Thorin's back, but the dwarf didn't respond.

'Hey, don't make him angry. We got what we want, let's not make him change his mind again,' said Katy, nudging her friend in the side.

'I guess maybe Fili did profess his undying love for you!' said Sarah quietly, as she and Katy made their way up stairs.

'So that uncle of yours, any idea why he changed his mind about us leaving the company?' asked Sarah.

Kili and Fili shared a glance.

'The Master, erm, wasn't too keen on the idea of you staying here. He said he's heard some things about you, from the elves, and he doesn't trust you.' Kili said.

'Oh,'

Both girls were a bit lost for words. After all the times that they had been offered the chance to stay somewhere, this was the first time they had been told that they weren't welcome. On top of that, it seemed that Thorin didn't really want them to stay with the company either, just that he had no where to leave them.

'Don't you just love to feel wanted, Katy?' Sarah said, jokingly.

'Yep!' replied Katy.

The two dwarves looked at each other again.

'But we do want you to stay with us. Before the Master told us you couldn't stay here, we were trying our best to persuade our uncle that you should stay with the company, and it seemed to be working,' Kili said, and he beamed at Fili.

'And what could you have possibly have said that would persuade him?' asked Sarah loudly, looking between Katy and Fili.

Before either of the dwarves had a chance to reply, Katy quickly spoke up.

'You know what, it doesn't matter why he was persuaded. We're just glad that we don't have to stay here.'

'As are we,' said Fili.

'I guess we should, er, get some sleep,' said Kili, and all four of them walked to the top of the stairs. They all hesitated a moment, before Sarah, rolling her eyes, took Kili by the arm and pulled him into her and Katy's room.

'Night Katy! Night Fili!' she said, closing the door behind them.

'I guess you're sharing with me again,' said Fili, smirking slightly.

'I guess so,' Katy said, laughing slightly.

They both walked into Fili's room.

'Kili was right, you know. We did try our best to persuade Thorin to let you come with us, and it was working. I was telling him how you and Sarah have played an important role in the company,' Fili said, to which Katy justed raised her eyebrows at.

'Really? An important role?' she said.

'Yeah. But it wasn't just that. I needed him to know how close we've become, and that I –'

Katy interrupted him.

'You don't need to say that. Honestly. It's enough that we're coming with you,' Katy said, not wanting the dwarf to say anything he didn't mean.

Fili gave her a soft smile.

'Come on then, pick a side!' he said, and began removing his many layers of clothes, causing Katy to blush slightly.

Minutes later they were both lying next to each other in bed, with Fili's arms wrapped around Katy.

'I'm really glad you're coming with us. I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to you just yet,' whispered Fili. Katy smiled at him.

'I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to say goodbye to you. Sarah and I still haven't worked out what our purpose here is, so we might be hear for sometime more,' she said.

'Well you can stay with us as long as you need to,' replied the dwarf.

'Thanks, Fili,' said Katy. He leaned in to kiss her when they suddenly heard a long bang from through the wall to where Sarah and Kili were.

Katy groaned.

'I don't even want to know what those two are up to!' she said, and Fili laughed.

'Just say the word and we can start wrecking the place as well…' he said, and started to kiss her neck.

'Ok, stop teasing me, you know we have an early start tomorrow. I don't really want to give Thorin one more reason to be annoyed at me,' Katy said, as Fili continued kissing her.

'You know what, one more thing for him to moan about can't hurt, can it?' she said, as she pulled Fili's lips up to meet hers.


	15. Chapter 15

There was barely any light coming in through the curtains when a loud banging on the door woke Sarah and Kili up.

'What the hell! What time is it?' mumbled Sarah, and she and Kili were just pulling themselves up to look towards the door when Dori burst through it.

'Katy! Sar- Oh!' the dwarf shrieked, as he saw who were in the bed.

Sarah and Kili both tried not to laugh as Dori's face turned a bright shade of red.

'Mister Kili, I had no idea that you were in here, I'm ever so sorry!' Dori stuttered.

'It's fine, Dori. Was there something you wanted?' Kili said, still trying not to laugh.

'Er, yes! Thorin asked me to make sure that Sarah and Katy were up in time for us to leave. Erm, where is Katy?' he asked.

'She's next door, with Fili. She and Kili swapped rooms last night. Actually, the night before as well!' Sarah said, causing Dori to again blush deeply.

'Right! I see! I will, er, make sure she is awake as well,' he said.

'I'd knock first if I were you, she might have a dwarf between her legs,' Sarah said with a straight face, and Dori looked a bit horrified as he left the room. Kili burst into laughter.

'Aren't you worried that he'll tell Thorin what you've just told him?' asked the dwarf.

Sarah sniggered.

'Nope! He'll probably be too embarrassed to tell anyone!' she said.

'He's right, though, we do have to get up now. Or Thorin will be coming to drag you out of bed!' said Kili, and he kissed Sarah quickly on the lips before climbing out of bed.

'Yeah I guess you're right,' said Sarah, pulling a face at Kili. 'It's your own fault that I don't want to get up, you know. You shouldn't look so god damn hot without your clothes on!'

That made Kili a bit speechless and embarrassed, and he didn't really know what to say to Sarah as they both got dressed.

She was just about to open the door when he held her back.

'I, erm, really like you. I hope you know that. And I'm really glad that my uncle is letting you come with us,' he said.

Sarah beamed at him.

'I'm glad he's letting us come too!' she said, kissing him quickly on the cheek, before they both left the room.

As they headed downstairs, they could see that Dori was still standing outside Fili and Kili's bedroom, apparently too scared to even knock on the door. Just as he was about to raise his hand to the wooden door, it opened, and Katy and Fili looked surprised to see Dori on the other side. Dori just looked relieved that they were both fully dressed.

'Oh, hi Dori! Were you making sure we were awake?' asked Katy.

'Eh, yes, Miss Katy! Miss Sarah, er, told me that you had swapped rooms with Mister Kili last night,' said the dwarf, causing both Fili and Katy to blush slightly.

'Yeah we did,' Katy said quietly, as the three of them went downstairs to join the others.

Bombur had put together a quick breakfast for them all, and they were just finishing it when there was a sharp knock on the door. A couple of men had arrived, having been sent by the Master, and had been instructed to lead the company to the boats.

Everyone quickly gathered their packs and followed the men to a small pier close to the city hall, where the Master and most of the town had gathered to see them off.

The Master cleared his throat and smiled at the company.

'Well, this is it! You must go now to claim your own! What help we can offer shall be yours, and we trust to your gratitude when your kingdom is regained,' he said, and his eyes lingered over Thorin at those final words.

Thorin muttered that he was very grateful for the hospitality that the Master and the people of Laketown had showed them, before gesturing for them all to climb into the two boats that were docked at the pier.

As she clambered into one of boats and sat herself down between Fili and Ori, Katy couldn't help but feel a touch of sadness at leaving this place. After all that had happened with the elves, and their quarrels with the dwarves, she had felt safe in Laketown, and it was over all too soon. Lying in bed next to Fili, with no one else in the room, Katy had felt the most relaxed and peaceful since she had set foot in Middle Earth, and all that seemed ahead was uncertainty and fear. Fili squeezed her hand, and looked to be about to ask if she was ok, when Sarah practically fell on him as she entered the boat.

'Sorry! Didn't mean to fall on your boyfriend!' Sarah said loudly to Katy, as Dori and Bofur helped her into her seat, Kili climbing in after her grinning widely.

Katy just rolled her eyes. Bilbo quickly climbed in after Kili, and with the rest of the company in the other boat, Kili and Fili used the oars to push off from the pier.

The Master and people of Laketown waved and cheered as they moved across the water, and suddenly they could see the Lonely Mountain in front of them.

'Goodness, it's not far at all!' whispered Bilbo, looking as fearful as Katy had been feeling.

'It's all feeling a bit real, isn't it?' replied Sarah, and both Katy and the hobbit nodded.

'And so very, very far from home,' added Bilbo. The girls looked at one another, each knowing that they both yearned to go back to their own home. Bilbo must have noticed their glances.

'Oh, I didn't mean to upset you, I know that you're missing your home, too, and that's a little more, er, complicated,' he said.

Sarah gave him a bright smile.

'Don't worry about it, you're allowed to feel homesick. Once the dwarves get their home back, then we can all return to ours. Well, hopefully!' she said, trying to sound convinced.

After an hour or so of rowing, Kili and Fili started to complain.

'I'm getting a bit tired, could someone else take over for a bit?' said Fili.

'Maybe if you had been getting more sleep last night, you would have a bit more energy!' said Bofur loudly, causing not only Fili, but also Dori, to looked embarrassed. Dori clearly still remembered Sarah's words from earlier.

'Were you also practising swordfighting?' asked Ori innocently, and Sarah struggled not to laugh as Katy glared at her.

It didn't stop Fili and his brother complaining, and Bofur and Dori soon took over rowing from them.

As the morning grew later, the company soon saw a shoreline in the distance, and they were shortly dragging the boats onto land.

'The Master has instructed us to leave the boats here. He'll send men to collect them shortly. We're on foot from now on,' Thorin said, and without giving them a chance to rest, he started walking.

As the great lake grew smaller and smaller behind them, the mountain seemed to tower ahead of them, willing them on. Katy and Sarah could tell that the dwarves were growing nervous at getting closer to their destination. Everyone seemed a little bit more tense, and there was nervious laughter everytime Bofur tried to lighten the mood. Kili and Fili kept a firm hold of Sarah and Katy's hands, and even both brothers were quieter than usual.

Balin was walking near the girls, and they asked him quietly about what they were expecting to find when they reached the mountain. The old dwarf told them about the hidden door that they needed to find before the last light of Durin's day, and of the treasure that they inside the dwarf kingdom.

'And a dragon, right? We haven't forgotten about that?' asked Sarah, and Balin nodded grimly.

'Yes, there will be a dragon,' the dwarf said.

'Oh joy!' said Sarah weakly, and Kili gave her hand a quick squeeze.

'Don't forget you're the one who wanted to leave Laketown with us,' he whispered, smirking slightly.

'Yeah, yeah, don't remind me!' she muttered back.

Thorin called for the company to stop and make camp under an old withered tree, and everyone looked glad for the rest. The men of Laketown had given them basic supplies of food and water, but it was well received after a long period of walking.

'God, I'm really going to miss that comfy bed,' said Katy, sitting herself down on her camping mat on the ground.

'Don't worry, you've still got Fili as a pillow!' said Sarah, laughing, as the dwarf in question sat down next to Katy, not knowing what her friend was finding so funny. He gave Katy a funny look.

'Never mind,' she said, and leant into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Even though the company had been given blankets, it was the coldest night they had felt, and none of them slept well. Thorin had them up early, and they continued walking towards the mountain. The trees slowly disappeared, and the land became harder, with very little growing from it, and soon they stopped some broken and blackened stumps of trees. There had been growth here before, but something had killed it all.

'We're approaching the desolation of Smaug,' said Balin.

'The desolation of what?' asked Sarah.

'Smaug. The dragon,' the dwarf explained, and both girls looked a little puzzled.

'He has a name?' asked Katy, and Bofur spoke up.

'Of course he does. Something that ferocious needs to be called something,' he said.

'And we are now at his destruction,' finished Balin, as he stopped walking. The rest of the company drew to a halt, and looked out in front of them. The land dipped slightly from where they were standing, and the ground below them was scattered with tree stumps and blackened earth. Up from the burnt earth rose the mountain, and just below it sat the town of Dale, or what was left of it. Balin spoke of the wealth and luxury that the place was once known for, but instead it was in complete ruin. What they couldn't see any sign of was the dragon.

'Come on. It does us no good to stand and stare,' said Thorin, and he began to lead them down through dead land.

Just as they were getting close to Dale, and behind it the mountain, the dwarf king stopped the company.

'We'll set up camp here, and send out some scouts. The days are few and we need to find this door,' he said, though Katy and Sarah weren't really listening. All they could do was stare up at the mountain in front of them. Ever since they had first met the dwarves and became part of the company, they had been marching towards this mountain. And now they were finally here. This was Kili and Fili's true home, though the young dwarves had never been there, and all they needed to do now was open the door.

'Kili, Fili, and Bilbo, go with Balin and take the map. The door needs to be around here somewhere,' said Thorin.

The three dwarves and the hobbit set off in one direction, while the rest of the dwarves started setting up camp. Katy and Sarah felt a bit strange sitting amongst the company when Kili and Fili weren't there. They had of course spent most of their time with the two young dwarves, and they still weren't exactly sure how the rest of them felt about them still being part of the company. Bombur started handing out bowls of food, and some of the dwarves started telling tales of Erebor. Thorin was being even more quiet than usual. Sarah quickly glanced at Katy, before walking over to where Thorin sat. She might regret this, but she was going to attempt some small talk with the dwarf.

'Can I sit here?' she asked, gesturing to the spot next to him. Thorin grunted.

'I'll take that as a yes,' she said, sitting down.

There was a moment's silence between them.

'Thank you for letting us come with you. We both see how much your home means to you, and it can't be easy having strangers intruding on your quest to reclaim it,' she said, quite proud of herself for being so polite.

'My nephews care deeply about you. They put up quite the fight when I told them you were staying in Laketown,' Thorin replied, glancing over at Katy. Sarah wasn't sure if her friend was doing it on purpose, but she was twirling her finger around the braid Fili had put in her hair. Sarah thought she could almost detect a smile on Thorin's face.

'They care a lot about you too. You can clearly see how much they want to impress you,' she said to the dwarf, and he broke out into an actual smile.

'And yet they are also doing their best to impress you and your friend,' Thorin said, almost cheekily.

'Well, can you blame them?! We are pretty amazing girls!' Sarah said grinning.

'Then you should meet their mother. She's amazing too, and would be interested in seeing who her sons have chosen to court,' the dwarf said.

Sarah was momentarily shocked. _God, imagine if we did meet their mother? I've never met any of my ex-boyfriends' mum's, let alone a dwarf's_, she thought. She struggled to think of something to say back to Thorin, but it turned out she didn't need to. The dwarf got up quickly, as it looked like the search party had returned.

'No door! Of course it wouldn't be that easy!' Balin announced, as he, Bilbo, Kili and Fili trudged into the camp.

Thorin took Balin aside, and they poured over the map together, as Bombur gave the other three some food.

'We don't even really know what the door's going to look like, so it's kind of impossible to look for it,' said Kili, as he sat down next to Sarah. The girl was still thinking about what Thorin had said about his mother.

'We'll know it when we see it, brother. We'll rest for a bit and then search some more,' Fili said.

Katy turned to him.

'Will Thorin not send out some of the other dwarves to look?' she asked.

'Kili and I have the best eyesight, so it'll be our job to go looking. Why, miss me when I'm gone?' he teased.

'Maybe a little bit. I was going to say that Sarah and I could help looking for the door. I mean you said that you don't know what you're looking for, so we might as well have a go,' Katy said, though Sarah didn't look thrilled at her suggestion.

Fili smiled at her.

'You can come with us next time, if you want to help,' he said, and Katy nodded.

'Of course I want to help, this is your home we're talking about,' she said, and Fili beamed at her.

'Urgh, young love. Does it have to involve walking miles looking for an invisible door?' said Sarah loudly.

'Hey, what's up with you?' Katy asked her, and Sarah shrugged.

'Nothing. Just tired,'

'And grumpy!' Kili added, before getting a light smack over the head from Sarah.

'Oi!' the dwarf said, giving her a nudge back.

'Enough now! You need to have some rest, then start looking again. We don't have long to find this door,' said Thorin, appearing at their side clutching the map.

About an hour later the search party set off in a direction, this time with Katy going along with them. Sarah had refused to join them, and she couldn't help feel a little jolt of sadness as she watched her friend go off with the dwarves and hobbit. Throughout this whole adventure the two of them had always stuck together, and it felt strange Katy going off without her.

'She'll be fine,' whispered Bofur, siddling up to Sarah. He must have noticed the concerned look on her face.

'I know,' Sarah said.

'Or is it that dwarf prince who's getting you worried?' he joked, but Sarah didn't look amused.

'Kili can take care of himself,' she muttered.

'I'm sorry, lass. Is everything ok?' Bofur asked.

Sarah smiled at him.

'Yeah. Just my turn to feel a bit homesick,' she replied.

'We will help you both find your way back home. And you're part of this company until you do go home. Don't ever think that you're alone, even if your friend or Kili aren't beside you,' Bofur said, and squeezed her hand.

Sarah thought she might start to cry.

'Thanks, Bofur,' she whispered.

The two of them sat in comfortable silence until they saw the search party come back for the second time. Sarah couldn't help but see how close Fili and Katy had grown – the way they walked right beside each other, no longer afraid to show the rest of the company how they felt about each other. Sarah again felt momentary sadness, and she wasn't even sure why, when suddenly Kili was in front of her, looking concerned.

'Are you sure you're ok?' he said.

'Just tired and grumpy, remember?' she answered, trying to sound cheerful.

Kili didn't look convinced, but Sarah changed the subject quickly.

'Did you find the door?'

Balin spoke up.

'No, still no sign of it. Thorin, I think we should move camp, and search some more,' he said, and Thorin nodded.

'Let's move!' he said loudly, and everyone pulled themselves to their feet. After a couple of miles the dwarf king brought them to a stop. They were now further to the left of the mountain, with the remains of Dale behind them. Once again, Kili, Fili, Bilbo and Balin left the group to go search for the door. Katy remained behind – she could tell that Sarah was upset about something, and wanted to stay with her. She knew better than to ask if something was bothering her, and instead just sat next to her in silence, listening to Dori tell a funny story to his brothers.

Katy wasn't sure how long had passed when shouts were heard from a distance. A few of the dwarves sprang to their feet, and Kili and Fili came rushing back to the group, closely followed by Balin and Bilbo.

'We've found it! We've found the door, Thorin!' shouted Kili, and a smile immediately broke out on his uncle's face.

'Show me where!' he said loudly.

Balin started to explain where the door was, and the rest of the company rushed to follow after them. Kili and Fili led them all back to what looked like a huge stone pillar, with rough steps cut into it. Pointing upwards, they explained that the door was concealed on a ledge a few metres up.

'Then what are we waiting for?! Let's climb!' bellowed Dwalin, and one by one the whole company started to climb up the rock. The climb was hard for the girls, but they did their best not to complain out loud – this was it, they had found the door to the dwarves' home, and they didn't want to spoil their excitement.

Once they had finally reached the top, they walked in single file along a narrow ledge, until it opened out to form a little steep-walled bay. It's entrance could not be seen from below because of the overhang of the cliff, not from further away as it was so small that it looked like a dark crack and no more. At the back was the side of the mountain, and one part of it was completely smooth, without any kind of joint or crevice to the seen. It was a door.

As soon as the dwarves saw it, some of them ran straight to it, and started hammering at it, desparate for it to move.

'Stop it! It's a door, and it will only open at the right moment with this key!' shouted Thorin, and he held up the key that Gandalf had given him all that time ago in the Shire.

'And it looks like we found it not a moment to soon,' said Balin, as the sun began to set in the distance.

'What is happening? Do we have to wait for the sun to set for the door to open?' whispered Sarah to Kili.

'The key hole will appear by the last light of Durin's day. That's this day,' he replied.

'Wow. That was good timing then,' she whispered back.

'I think a lot of things have happened for a reason on this quest,' Kili said, looking straight at Sarah, smiling slightly. Something about the way he said it made her think he wasn't only talking about finding the door. She didn't know what to say.

The light slowly faded, but the key hole didn't appear.

'Quick, we are running out of time! It must be here somewhere!' said Thorin, panic creeping into his voice. Some of the dwarves started hammering again at the door, but as the last light of the sun went out, the door remained unchanged.

'I don't understand,' said Balin, turning to Thorin.

The dwarf kind looked defeated.

'It's finished. We've missed our chance. The quest is over!' he said angrily. Turning sharply away from the door, he walked back along to the narrow ledge.

'Come on! Let's move. We need to get away from here,' he said, and slowly the rest of the company filtered after him.

'What? That's it? We just go away now?' said Katy, looking in confusion at the dwarves around her. 'You're all just going to give up like that?'

'The door didn't open, and the map told us exactly when it was supposed to,' Fili started to explain to her, only to be interrupted by Thorin.

'I said the quest is over. You're barely a part of this company, don't start questioning my decisions!' he shouted at her, and Katy visibly flinched.

'Uncle, she was not doubting your mind. She was only wanting to understand. You forget sometimes that Katy and Sarah aren't from Middle Earth. You shouldn't speak to them in that way,' said Fili loudly, and everyone looked shocked at his outburst, none more than Katy and Sarah.

_Oh my god, one of them has finally talked back to Thorin, _thought Sarah, not quite believing what she had just heard, and watching closely for Thorin's reaction.

Katy, meanwhile, couldn't keep her eyes off Fili. _He stood up for me, to his uncle! _She thought, desparately trying to keep the grin off her face.

Thorin just stood there, looking at his nephew, who glared back at him in defiance. Before either of them could say another word, the silence was broken by Bilbo.

'Quick! Come quick! The door, I mean, the key hole! It's the light of the moon, it's appeared!' the hobbit said quickly, and it took everyone a couple of seconds to understand what he was referring to.

With one final glance at Fili, Thorin rushed past him and the rest of the company, back towards the door. Everyone else followed, and they watched as the smooth door, now illuminated by moonlight, had revealed a small hole. Thorin slowly pushed the key into it, and it fitted perfectly. The dwarf turned it, and it made a loud snap. He looked back at the company, and without saying a word, Kili, Fili and Dwalin stepped forward to help Thorin push against the smooth stone. Slowly, without a sound, the door swung inwards, and everyone stared into the deep darkness.


	16. Chapter 16

After their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the dwarves, Bilbo, Katy and Sarah could see that the door had opened into a narrow tunnel, leading sharply downwards, into the mountain. Thorin tore his gaze away from the open door to the hobbit.

'Now is the time for our esteemed Mr Baggins to perform the service for which he was included in our company!' he said, and poor Bilbo looked terrified.

'You're just going to let Bilbo go in there by himself?' said Sarah, before she could stop herself. Thorin glared at her, but didn't say anything.

Bilbo himself spoke up.

'You are quite right, it is why I was brought on this quest. But will not one of you come in with me first, just until I get my bairings?' he asked. The girls noticed how Kili and Fili glanced at their uncle, waiting to see if he wished one of them to accompany the hobbit. Before either of them could speak up, Balin did.

'I will go with you, a little way along the tunnel,' he said, and Bilbo looked a little comforted.

Sarah and Katy gave Bilbo a reassuring smile as he went through the door, with Balin closely behind him. The two figures moved down into the tunnel, and they disappeared from sight. The other dwarves were quiet – no one really knew what to say. Finally Sarah couldn't keep quiet any longer.

'What will Bilbo be doing exactly?' she asked no one in particular.

'He's going to look for our treasure, and for the Arkenstone,' said Thorin quietly.

'And that is?' Sarah asked gently, noticing that the dwarf almost had a smile on his face when he mentioned the jewel.

After remaining silent for a few seconds, he went on to explain the importance of that particular piece of treasure.

'It's like a globe with a thousand facets – it shines like silver in the firelight! And like water in the sun, like snow under the stars, like rain upon the moon!'

Sarah grinned at him.

'So you would say that you're a fan, then?' she said, with a touch of sarcasm. It was weird seeing Thorin getting actually excited by something.

'And the dragon?' Katy asked, tearing Thorin from his thoughts about the jewel.

'Yes, and hopefully avoid waking the dragon,' he muttered.

_Ah, back to his usual self then, _thought both girls.

'How on earth is he supposed to avoid waking a dragon?' muttered Sarah, but keeping her voice quiet. She was trying very hard not to test Thorin's patience.

'So I guess we just wait here then?' Sarah said more loudly this time, and a few of the dwarves around her nodded.

Katy moved up close to Fili.

'Thanks for that earlier, I mean, sticking up for me? I guess I should have known better than to question Thorin, but it meant a lot you saying that,' she said, and he smiled brightly at her.

'It's something I should have done before, when my uncle thought you had betrayed us. It's time he understood how important you are to me,' Fili said quietly, and she felt butterflies in her stomach hearing him say that, and tried to ignore the eye roll that Sarah gave behind him.

The night air started to turn cooler, and the dwarves and girls sat huddled around the door to the mountain, listening for any signs of Bilbo or the dragon. Time dragged slowly, and it felt like hours had passed since the hobbit had entered the mountain. After going a little way into the tunnel with him, Balin had told the company that Bilbo didn't appear that scared of what he might encounter in the mountain.

'That just shows how much that hobbit has changed! Do you remember Bilbo fainting over just the thought of Smaug? And now look at him, marching into that mountain on his own!' said Bofur, grinning.

'I remember you scaring him with talk of incineration!' said Dori, shaking his head.

'I was being honest and telling him what could happen!' replied Bofur.

'Aye, well let's hope it doesn't come to that,' said Balin.

The company fell into silence and tried to keep themselves warm.

Kili and Fili were huddled in a corner with the girls, and Sarah noticed that Fili was re-doing Katy's braid.

'Still keeping that thing in?' she muttered, and Katy frowned at her.

'What is up with you?' she whispered back, but Sarah just shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes.

Katy caught Kili's eye and gave him a reassuring smile.

'She's not the best person to be around when she hasn't had enough sleep,' she said, but Kili didn't look convinced.

'Thanks, Fili!' Katy said as the dwarf finished her braid, and she leaned against him and closed her eyes. _Might as well try and get some sleep too, _she thought, doing her best to ignore how cold she was, despite being so close to Fili.

Katy wasn't sure how much sleep she actually managed to get, before she and the rest of the company heard footsteps coming towards the door. Bilbo burst out into the ledge, breathless and clutching a large golden cup.

'Bilbo! You did it! Well done!' said Sarah loudly, and she gave him a big hug, suprising the hobbit.

'Oh, well, er, thank-' he began to say.

'Did you find the Arkenstone?' asked Thorin, interrupting him, and Bilbo fell silent.

'Well that was a little rude…' muttered Sarah, before Kili elbowed her in the side.

She glared at him, but before she or Bilbo could say anything to Thorin, a deep rumbling was heard from inside the mountain.

'Well that would be the dragon!' said Bofur.

'You woke him up, Bilbo?!' shrieked Sarah, and Bilbo was about to say something back to her when more rumbling was heard, this time much louder. As well as the noise, the company felt the air around them grow hotter, and flames could be seen shooting from near the top of the mountain.

'Quick, everyone, into the tunnel!' shouted Balin, and the whole company dived as quickly as they could, closing the door with an almightly bang behind them.

'So he's outside the mountain now? So we're safer in here?' said Sarah, but no one answered her. The rumbling could still be heard echoing in the tunnel, and it caused the rock around them to shake. They were still fairly close to the door, and they felt the scorching heat of the dragon's flames as they ground they were standing on moments ago was burned to a crisp. Then suddenly, there was silence.

No one dared to speak for a few moments.

'Do you think he's gone?' Dori whispered loudly.

'Of course he's not gone. He caught a scent he hadn't smelt before, and now he's hunting for it!' said Thorin, glaring at Bilbo.

'What?! You told me to go down there! Do you know how hard it was to go searching around for that stone when there's a dragon asleep alongside the gold?!' Bilbo said indignantly.

'And did you see the Arkenstone?' asked Thorin.

'Well-'

'Enough!' said Balin. 'We need to get some rest while we can. I suggest some of us get some sleep while the others stay on watch. There's a dragon close by.'

Thorin looked like he wanted to continue questioning the hobbit about the jewel, but instead he instructed Kili, Fili, Bofur and Nori to take the first watch, before closing his eyes.

It was probably the most tense of nights sleep Katy and Sarah had ever had since they had been in Middle Earth. Every now and then the company could hear the roar of the dragon grow and the fade, as he hunted in the sky above the mountain. When eventually the girls were shaken awake hours later, it didn't take long for them to hear the roaring again, and to become frightened again.

'Do we have a plan or something? I mean, are we just going to stay here for the time being?' Katy asked gently, not wanting to anger Thorin.

'We can't go back down the way we came, not with the dragon so close. We'll need to stay here until it's safe enough for us again,' the dwarf replied.

'So there's no way of actually getting rid of the dragon? We can't kill it?' asked Sarah, and her question was met with silence until Bilbo spoke up.

'That was always the weak point of the plan, wasn't it? How to take back your home when you can't get rid of the big dragon that's sitting in the middle of it!' the hobbit said, clearly still a bit put out that he was being blamed for waking up Smaug.

'Bilbo! State the bloody obvious, why don't you!' Sarah said, and a few of the dwarves couldn't help but give a slight chuckle.

The laughter was soon broken by an almighty crash from the other side of the door, and suddenly rocks and stones were raining down around them. The company grabbed there supplies and scurried down further into the tunnel.

'What the hell was that?!' screamed Katy.

'What do you think?! It was Smaug, it had to be!' shouted Dwalin.

'And now look! The door is now a pile of stone! How on earth are we meant to get out of mountain?!' cried Bofur, and the company could see that he was right. The dragon had clearly begun smashing the outside of the mountain, and the whole door and part of the tunnel had been smashed to pieces.

'Wait! Thorin, there is the front door, by the river! We can get out through there!' said Balin, and Thorin nodded.

'Yes, you're right! Of course! We'll have to be quiet moving through the halls and tunnels, but it's our only option,' replied the dwarf king.

Their conversation was interrupted by more roaring from outside, only this time it was much closer than before. It would appear that Smaug was returning to his spot inside the mountain.

Thorin looked over the group, frowning.

'There are too many of us to go unnoticed. We'll need to divide into smaller groups. Perhaps if each group goes a different way, then at least some of us will make it to the door,' he said, and he began to talk to Balin about the different ways they could reach the front door.

'I'm just going to ignore the fact he just said that some of us should make it,' Katy muttered to Sarah, who nodded in agreement.

Thorin and Balin joined the rest of them, and started dividing the company up.

'Bilbo, Kili and Fili, you'll come with me, and Nori, you take your brothers and Katy,' Thorin said.

'Bofur, Bombur, Bifur and Sarah will go together, and the rest with me,' said Balin, and he started explaining the different routes to each group.

'You're splitting us up?' Sarah asked loudly, and everyone turned to her.

Thorin glared at her.

'My nephews do not need to be distracted by dragging you and your friend around these chambers. I'm sure you can cope without them for a little while,' he said.

'I meant splitting up Katy and I, actually,' she spat back, and she waited for an apology from the dwarf king.

'Like I said, I'm sure you'll cope for a little while,' Thorin said through gritted teeth, and he gestured for each group to start moving.

'What a git,' Sarah muttered, as she gave Katy a tight hug before following after Bifur.

'She'll be fine,' Katy said to Kili, who looked like he expected to get a hug from Sarah too. Fili squeezed Katy tightly and kissed her on the cheek before going with his brother, Bilbo and Thorin.

'Come on, Miss Katy, we better find our way to the front door,' said Dori, and she trudged after the dwarf. Nori took the lead, and he led his two brothers and Katy down a steep tunnel. They heard the footsteps of the other three groups fade into the distance, and Katy had never felt so alone in her life. She could feel a lump rising in her throat, but before any tears fell someone took her hand. It was Ori.

'Don't be upset, Katy. I'm terrified as well. But we'll make it to the other door. We all will, we've got to believe that,' he whispered, and she smiled faintly at him.

'Thanks, Ori,' she said, squeezing his hand, and they followed after Nori and Dori.

Sarah didn't think she had ever seen Bofur so quiet before, and it unsettled her. In fact, she realised that she had been feeling a bit off for a while now, and she knew exactly why. _Ever since that stupid git of a dwarf mentioned meeting Kili's mum_, she thought. She had never had a serious relationship before, and she couldn't quite believe that the first time the idea of meeting a boyfriend's parent was now, in Middle Earth. But it wasn't so much the meeting of his mother that freaked her out, but the fact that Thorin had practically joked about it. He wasn't exactly known for cracking jokes, and Sarah had been convinced that he wasn't thrilled that Sarah and Kili were… well, whatever they were. _Does Thorin actually not mind that he's courting her?_ She thought, grimacing at the word Kili insisted on using. Courting and braids and boyfriend's mothers weren't exactly what she had in mind when she thought of her and Katy travelling. A world full of dragons and elves and orcs was overwhelming enough, and now her relationship (_can I even call it that_?) with Kili was making her head spin. And what didn't make it any easier was the fact that she was creeping through a mountain and trying to avoid a dragon with a dwarf who looked like he desparatly needed to make a smart-arsed comment, a fat ginger dwarf, and one who didn't even speak any English.

But before Sarah could think too much more about her situation, the tunnel they were walking along opened up, and they found themselves in a great hall. All four of them stopped, and they spent a few minutes in silence, gazing at the mounds of treasure in front of them.

'Ok, so when you said treasure…' whispered Sarah, as the three dwarves started to grin at one other. Fear seemed to be forgotten, and they all moved around the large room, picking up random pieces and examining them. Bifur even started putting some pieces into his pockets.

Sarah couldn't stop laughing at it all – it was ridiculous the amount of treasure that was in this one room. Her laughter was contagious, and all four of them were rushing about with glee when suddenly a roar cut through the air.

The dwarves and Sarah glanced at one another for a split second, before rushing for the door at the other side of the hall.

'Please tell me that noise is an echo and the dragon isn't behind us!' shouted Sarah, and Bofur stole a quick glance over his shoulder.

'Ehh, let's not think too much about that answer and keep running, lass!' he shouted, as another deafening roar was heard.

_Crap, this is not the way to go, _Sarah thought, and they ran back into the darkness, not daring to think what was following them.

Dori gripped Katy's hand as another roar echoed through the walls of the mountain, causing the girl to grimace.

'Sorry, Miss Katy! We must be nearly there, eh Nori?' the dwarf said, and his brother nodded at them.

'If Thorin was correct, then the door should be just around this bend…' Nori said, and sure enough, as the four of them turned the corner, they found themselves in a small room. Not only was there a large stone door at the other end, but so were Dwalin, Balin, Oin and Gloin.

'Thank goodness! We were starting to worry that it was only us who had made it!' said Balin, embracing Katy and the three brothers.

'I'm sure the others wont be far away, right?' said Katy, trying to remain positive. The dragon roar's had become more and more frequent the longer they had all been separated, and she couldn't help but worry about the rest of the company.

'Aye, no doubt they will,' Dwalin said.

Katy tried to ignore how unsure the dwarf sounded, and moved closer to the door.

'I can hear running water! Is there a river outside?' she asked.

Balin nodded.

'It's the Running River. It starts in the mountain, and travels down into Dale, and further onto a look out post over the city. I think it would be most sensible to make for that ,' he said.

'Once the others are here?' said Katy, and Balin hesitated slightly before nodding.

'Well let's hope they hurry up then…' she muttered.

The half of the company fell into silence, and sat listening to the river babbling outside the moutain. If it weren't for the fact that they were anxiously waiting for the other half of the company to appear, it would have been very pleasant and peaceful listening to life outside the mountain.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a rumbling.

'Oh, god!' wailed Katy.

'We need to go outside now, we don't want this exit to be blocked too!' said Dwalin, and he and the other dwarves started to move towards the door.

'What about the others?!' screamed Katy, and for once Dwalin didn't know what to say to the girl.

From out of nowhere, they heard voices, and soon the rest of the company could be seen running at top speed towards the door.

Dwalin grabbed Katy, and ran through the door, and the rest of the company quickly came tumbling out after them, the door slamming behind them.

'What happened?' asked Dwalin to Thorin.

'We may have made a dragon very angry,' said Thorin, with a hint of a smile on his lips, and he began to tell the others how they had lead the dragon into a flow of hot, burning water and gold.

Katy had tuned out what he was saying, and quickly went over to where Fili, Kili and Sarah were standing. Fili wrapped his arms around the girl, and Katy gave him a brief smile before turning her attention to her friend. Kili was standing with his arm around her shoulder, and seemed to be whispering words urgently into her ear.

'Sarah! Are you ok?' Katy asked, and she was soon pulled into a hug.

She could feel her friend's tears on her shoulder.

'What is it, are you ok?' she whispered, and Sarah shook her head.

'That was horrible. That was a massive, real dragon, and it almost killed us,' she said quietly. 'I've had enough of this place. I want to go home, right this instant,'

Katy had never seen her friend so shaken and scared like this before. She glanced at Kili and Fili, and they both looked worried about Sarah as well.

She tried to give her friend a reassuring smile.

'It's ok. We're out of the mountain now, so that dragon wont be bothering us again,' she said.

Sarah groaned and shook her head.

'And then what? We'll have to deal with something else? I've had enough of trying to be brave and coping with all of this stuff. I'm exhausted. I wish we never came here in the first place,' she said, pulling away from Katy and sitting on a nearby rock. Katy once again glanced at Kili and Fili, wondering if they had heard Sarah's words, and it was clear that they had. Kili was starting to look upset as well. Katy went over to them.

'How are you two doing?' she said, trying to keep her voice light.

'We're ok. Is Sarah alright?' asked Kili, and Katy shrugged her shoulders.

'She's been better. I think she just really feels out of her depth now. We both do,' she said, and Kili slowly went over to sit with Sarah.

'That's understandable,' said Fili, giving her a smile.

Katy didn't know what else to say, so was thankful when the dwarf pulled her into another hug.

'I promise I'll help you find your way home,' he whispered in her ear, causing Katy to hug him tighter.

'Thank you,' she whispered.

Katy let Fili hold her for a while, and she became aware of the conversation between Bilbo and the other dwarves. It seemed as though Thorin was again pressing the hobbit about the Arkenstone, while Balin was trying to tell them all that they should be heading to the look out post.

Bilbo, meanwhile, was practically shouting over the dwarves, pointing into the air.

'Do you not see what we have done?! We've angered that dragon, and we're just going to run away now?!' he yelled.

'What do you expect us to do? We used all our strength and resources to try and kill him in that mountain, and it didn't work!' shouted Thorin, glaring at the hobbit.

Bilbo breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down.

'As I tried to tell you as we were creeping through those tunnels, I saw a weak spot on Smaug. Just under his wing, there is a patch of scales missing, and if something found that spot, it could do some damage,' Bilbo explained.

'And what exactly are we meant to hit that spot with?' Thorin asked, but before Bilbo could speak, a horrifying roar filled the air, and the company were frozen in fear at the dragon that hovered in the air in front of them.

'You! You were the one who crept into my moutain, and tried to steal my treasure! And what did you call yourself, Barrel-rider?!'

Bilbo had turned a frightening shade of white, and the girls weren't sure if it was because the dragon was in fact talking to them, or because of what he was actually saying.

'Barrel-rider! You came from the waterside, and up the water you came without a doubt. I don't know your smell, but if you are not one of those men of the Lake, you had their help. They shall see me and remember who is the real King under the Mountain!'

With those words, Smaug took off into the air, and headed across the broken and dead land towards Laketown.

'Oh god, what have we done?' Bilbo muttered.

'What did he mean, calling you Barrel-rider?' shouted Thorin.

'I, er, may have called myself that, when I was in the moutain, with Smaug,' the hobbit said quietly, avoiding Thorin's gaze.

'And why on earth did you do that?' he said loudly.

Bilbo looked at him directly.

'Because you sent me in that mountain! To get your treasure! So what was I supposed to do? What would you have done, eh? Would you have done any better? I think not!' screamed Bilbo, and no one knew what had come over him.

'And now look what's happened, look what we have done!' he yelled, pointing frantically towards the sky, and the dragon fading into the horizon.


	17. Chapter 17

Me again.

Ok, so that is it so far. I've posted all the chapters I've finished, but I'm about half way through the next chapter, so hopefully it wont be too long until I get it up here. In the meantime, it would be great to hear what you think of it so far.

Til next time!

xx


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